Dragon Ball: Diamond and Pearl
by Rbade
Summary: Gohan has just become the most powerful creature in the universe (as far as anyone knows). However, what will he do when he finds himself in a new one where that holds even more true...? Is Gohan cut out for the trainer lifestyle, or will he solve problems with his own two Goku-given fists? Takes place after Pokémon Fusion Generation II, and on the other end the Cell Saga.
1. Prologue: Post-Fusion

The world of pokémon! An idyllic, beautiful place... or so it would seem. The relationship between humans and the so-called 'monsters' which inhabit this world has always been mutually beneficial. Humans direct action and build, while the pokémon with them carry things out with their fantastic abilities. However, as humans grew in their knowledge and influence they started to poke into more fundamental pieces of their world... and in recent years the delicate balance of this world has been thrown into jeopardy, time and time again!

The Great War between the regions and the subsequent foundings of the Pokémon Leagues...

The rise of Team Rocket and it's harassment of the artificial pokémon, Mewtwo...

Team Snagem's rampage throughout the Orre region...

The ill-fated attempts by Team Galactic to control what are essentially the gods of this world...

And most recently, the resurgence of unnatural pokémon _fusions_, and the invention of _gijinka pokémon_...

As always, strong-willed trainers have emerged from the woodwork to save the day, fueled only by their trust in their pokémon partners and determination to do the right thing! But all are eventually unsung, for however widely they may become known, they are still just _children_ who operated in the underground: trainers like Dawn, Brendan, and Silver... and the one true Pokémon Master, the legitimately legendary _Red_.

However, the spotlight has yet to leave this world's most recent champion: Ethan, former Champion of the Indigo League and newly-crowned Champion of Hoenn!

* * *

"So... I'm really grateful to get a second chance here, Bill. I... I won't let you down!"

Bill nods, hands clasped as he looks at the woman before him. Alma... she's really been through a lot. That Ghetsis person really is despicable, isn't he? The least he can do is provide her with a place to stay and something to do while she gets her bearings.

*cough!*

Ethan coughs, his head sticking into the cottage. He scratches the back of his head (covered by his gold and black hat) as the two inside turn to look at him.

"Oh! Ethan, hello!" Bill says, popping up from his chair. "Back from the Conference of Champions already?"

"Er, yeah. Heh. I won, if you were wondering."

"It doesn't surprise me. You _are_ the most, 'on your game', as it were..."

Alma stares with wide eyes, gasping in admiration. "Wow... so, you're the best trainer in the _world_...? No wonder I couldn't beat you." Ethan laughs, scratching the back of his head as he settles into a chair at the table.

"Nah – I mean, I'm not going to lie, I'm a _champion_," he says with a smirk, "but I think I mostly won because of dumb luck. And because biggest threat didn't come on his A-Game. At least I don't think he did... hard to tell with _him_."

Bill squints for a second before gasping. "Brendan...? W-wait, no way! You really beat _him_? ... He actually _showed up_?!"

"Wait, who is 'he'?" Alma asks.

"R-_Red_!"

Her eyes go wide: even _she's_ heard of the ultimate Champion. "Red?! You _defeated_ him _again_?!"

"Heheh... yeah though barely: it was a heck of a fight! His pikachu knocked Buzzy out with one hit right at the start! He also had a chareon and a... lapradon...? I'm telling you guys, I'm pretty sure he keeps going easy on me."

"Mph! I'm inclined to believe it – he might seem stony, but he helped me out of the goodness of his heart: he's a surprisingly kind and gentle person."

Ethan nods absently, fingering his Poké Balls. Alma looks between the two and coughs into her hand to spur them on.

"Oh, uh, yes – what did you need, Ethan?"

"Erm... now that the stuff with Ghetsis is over, shouldn't we... start, uh, _defusing_ pokémon?"

To Ethan's surprise, Bill hesitates before sighing. He stands up and faces the Fusion Machine: "Ethan, normally I would be all for it, but... the business on Splicen Island has changed my perspective once again. The revelation that fusion is a fairly _natural_ phenomenon that well predates my research into it... well, I don't know."

"You defused _me_, didn't you?" Alma pipes up.

"That's true..."

Ethan goes for it.

"Bill... okay, so let's say pokémon hybrids are natural. That doesn't mean the _normal pokémon_ that were stolen by Team Galactic Rocket should have to stay that way. The only natural hybrids in Poké Balls are mine and the others who were here, right? We just set those aside while everyone else starts to defuse their pokémon."

"That actually makes a fair amount of sense. All right Alma, I'm going to help Ethan with pokémon defusion for a bit, okay? Can I trust you to manage the PC Storage System?"

"Yes, Bill! Totally!"

"Great!" he replies to her back: she's already running off to check on the PC. "So, Ethan, do you really have anything to do here?" Bill asks as he opens up the hatch to his basement. The Fusion Machine had been moved down there just recently – out of sight from visitors. "I don't think you caught any real fusions – heck, you defused the Totovee I gave you as soon as you had the opportunity."

"... Actually, yeah. ... I don't know if you'd noticed, but I've _kind_ of been using your teleporter for a bit, heh." He scratches the back of his head awkwardly when Bill raises an eyebrow. "Hey, I wasn't being sneaky or anything! You've just... been really busy with Alma. You didn't notice all the moves, I guess?"

"Uhhhh..."

"Heheh, don't get worked up, man," Ethan says as he punctuates his words with a knuckle-crack. "You think that thing can defuse Hogia?"

"... Oh, man, geez! I've been so focused on all the problems going on lately... I never even got to asking!"

"Asking what?"

"How the _heck_ did you catch Lugia in the first place?!"

* * *

Down in the basement of Bill's cottage, the titular scientist nods in amazement. "How peculiar... I'll have to tell Oak about this. The capture, at least temporarily, of other legendary pokémon could lead to all sorts of breakthroughs!"

"Erm, we're trying to _release_ legendaries right now, remember?"

"Right, right... just, if you find any _new_ ones, catch them? Just for a bit? For the Pokédex?"

"I... all right."

Bill grins a self-satisfied grin as he smacks a button on the control power, forcing the machine to whir to life. The pods glow an ominous blue-green as the blasphemous energy crackles. Arceus himself winces up from the Hall of Origin.

"Okay, Ethan, what legendary fusions to you have on you?"

"Um... a _few._" Might not be best to mention _how many_ he had found running around on Splicen. He hoped to God that he was mistaken about a few of them – and that maybe, perhaps, they were created by Team Magma Aqua back in the day instead of Galactic Rocket or Plasma.

"Hm, all right. I guess you'll want to defuse Hogia first?"

"No, actually..." he answers to Bill's puzzlement. "A... certain fusion I found in one of the labs on the island. It's probably really important we get it's constituents back into the wider world ASAP. I needed to use up a _Master Ball_ that I had found... long story."

"Oh! What pokémon are in its makeup?!"

"Get this," Ethan whispers as he leans in. "A Celebi..."

"Wha–?"

"And _Dialga_."

Bill's eyes widen as the name registers. W-w-what!? Dialga, the Temporal Dragon?! ... Again? Ethan is surprised at Bill's relative lack of reaction. He had expected at _least_ a dropped jaw: Dialga was a _god_! And not only had it been captured and fused, he had _captured it as a fusion_! Where was the- oh, apparently he wears his emotions on his sleeve. Bill coughs.

"I-I'm sorry, Ethan. Brendan already caught Dialga before you during his journey — it was fused into a being called 'Dialxys', you see... It _is_ a shock to see it captured twice. Er, four times?"

"Oh."

"Still, you're probably right: time is a very important aspect of the world, after all. ... Wait, have you captured a _Palkia_ fusion as well?"

"Huh? Yes, actually! It was fused with a Manaphy."

"Excellent!" he shouts, giving Ethan the satisfaction he was looking for: "To my knowledge, there is no record of Palkia in the pokédex. This could be huge!"

"Aha... thanks, Bill?"

"Don't thank me, thank Team Magma Aqua for stealing my Fusion... actually, you know what, you _can_ thank _me_~."

The Poké Ball containing Dialabi vibrates, seemingly trying to egg Ethan forwards. The Lord of Time probably isn't used to being contained... or, judging by the fervor with which it is shaking, something has gone wrong in its domain? The Poké Ball containing Mania is shaking too... as soon as they are back to their original forms, they are going to make a _beeline_ for Spear Pillar and find out what's screwing with this universe's space-time continuum.


	2. Where in the World is Son Gohan?

It's chilly.

Uwah...?

Gohan blinks, the light of a new dawn barely allowing him to register the room. His blanket keeps him warm, but it's still way chillier than it was when he... than it should be. Paozu isn't supposed to get this cold for a few months, isn't it? The saiyan hybrid grumbles as he closes his eyes again, and snuggles deeper into his futon.

He doesn't want to get up this early. Does he really have to study so hard...? He doesn't even go to a real school! Yeah, he wants to be a scholar, but... but he's _tired_ right now... Sleep is important...

_"No! This can't be! I... am... perfection!"_

_"HIYAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"_

Ack, at least studying at five in the morning is better than the Cell Games. Good thing _that's_ behind him.

But dad...

He sniffs, burying his face into his pillow. Dad... dad is _dead_. It's still taking time to accept it. If it wasn't for him... for his _delaying_ the fight, he would still be around... Earth would still have its greatest hero. Vegeta and him were _strong_, but Goku had saved the world many times over! If another major incident happened... would they all be enough? Would _he_ be enough? Martial arts are fun... but fighting, he _hates_ fighting! He might not train hard enough. He might _hesitate_ in the next actual fight... should he even train?

Ugh, training. Should he even bother...? He might be incredibly powerful, but he isn't power-hungry like Vegeta or... admittedly, his dad was. He only wanted to protect people... and, he can admit, to hang out with dad and Mr. Piccolo. Hrm, since exercise _is_ kind of required, perhaps martial arts aren't the worst way to do it... but hurting people... that just isn't something he wants to _do_. Hopefully the others can close the gap by the time the next major threat shows up... Wait a god damn second.

Gohan doesn't sleep in a FUTON.

"Gah!"

He shoots straight up, looking around wildly. Where is he?! What's going on? Whose house is this?!

Why can't he feel anybody's ki? Or any ki _at all_, for that matter?! The last thing he remembers is...

Uh...

Hm.

Gohan blinks furiously, looking around the room he's in. It's pretty dark, but he can make out a few details. ... This is a very small house, isn't it? There's a bit of a nook on the far end, but it doesn't look like it leads to another room. He stops when he notices a... _wet_ feeling on his lap, and lets his eyes drift downwards.

... A handkerchief?

He wipes his forehead with his hand - it's wet too. The hankie must've been placed there by whoever lives here: and he lets out a sigh of relief. Did something happen to him...? At least the people in this area are probably friendly enough, if they bothered to take him in. What could have _gotten him_ to the point where he needed a towel like that, probably for a fever? Did he just come down with something while flying a good distance away from home, or did _something strong_ knock him out?!

Okay, so... time to think. He can't feel any ki, at all. He is in a stranger's bed, in a stranger's _house_, and was apparently in a situation where he needed to be treated for some sort of harm. A glance to his left confirms that he wasn't harmed _by_ the people here... if they had done something like taken his kidneys, would they have bothered medicating him with anything other than sedatives? Besides, his father's relied on the kindness of strangers for big chunks of his life. Now's just... his turn, he guesses. And...

... Oh, Kami, how long has he been out?! Is that... oh god it _is_. He needs to find a bathroom _now_!

**WELCOME TO CELESTIC TOWN!**

**The Past Lives**

He leans forwards, his lower body still covered in the futon as he really inspects the house. It's very small - yeah, this is the only room. A refrigerator and pretty much everything else important is against the wall behind him, under a couple of windows. There's a visible door in front of him and to the left, and that same nook on the far left side... from what he can tell, the only real piece of furniture in here is a dining table in the center of the room. It's... cozy. Gohan smiles: he'd almost forgotten that other people... well, have lives and homes. The public had sort of started to just become 'the public' to him, you know? The muggles.

And on the left wall... four futons against the wall.

Gohan's face pales when he realizes _they're occupied_. His _super saiyan eyes_ can make out (when he squints really damn hard) that only two of the four actually have people in them, though he can't tell much about them other than that one's probably a child... he didn't inherit his father's freakish sense of smell. Still, that's a little uncomfortable. Eurgh. Not only is he in _their house_, awake while nobody else is, but he has to _find a way to CLEAN HISSELF UP_ without making a ruckus.

... Easier done than said. Sounds hard, but he can _fly_. And fly he does, out of the bed, and out the door once he carefully pries it open. Once he's out, he carefully lands on the roof of the house - and scans for a fairly isolated area. He spies one in the form of the top of one of the hills surrounding the town

...

Gohan looks down into the valley, watching with... well, interest. His _ki_ sense is still out of wack, so this is the only civilized area he knows the location of. It feels kind of weird, to not know where you are.

From what he can tell he's in the middle of a mountain range. Paozu, close to home? No, too rocky and barren – not enough jungle and the like. Doesn't look like the Tsumisumbri mountains either. Is he on a remote island, or another planet...? Either way, the small town, really more of a village, doesn't look too high-tech. No Capsule-Corp products, anyways. And the name he saw on the sign doesn't ring a bell either. 'Celestic Town'... Maybe it's near that place dad once told him about, Penguin Village?

It'd probably be best to hang here for a while. Until someone can come get him. Piccolo can find him... right?

"PHISH!"

"Buh?"

Gohan turns to see the... thing. It looks sort of like a crab, but it's really big. Not _that_ big like those you can see by Dragon Rock or anything, but still over half a meter tall. The crab-thing waves its claw at him. How'd it even get up here? This is a mountain range. The only source of water he can see is a pond back in the little town.

"Phish! Cooooorphish!"

"What? 'Core-fish'? What the heck?"

"CORRRRPHISH! Cococorrrr! PHIIIIIIIIISH!"

The lobster-thing makes flamboyant motions, whipping its arms up and down. It looks like it's... oh! It's trying to act something out. Is 'core fish' the only thing it can say?

"Corphish!"

Apparently so. The crab seemingly gives up in frustration, making a strange grumbling going something like 'uhd-uhd-uhd'. It's obviously not intended for communication like the repetitions of the previous word, though - probably it's equivalent of sighing or non-word vocalizations. Gohan considers - something he doesn't normally do in situations like this, and is glad to do so. Brain muscle time! The crab is obviously intelligent. It's eyes are more reminiscient of a vertebrate than a proper crab, so... and it isn't attacking him, at least not yet.

What do people say when they first introduce themselves? ... Duh, they _introduce_ themselves.

"Is that you _name? _Are you 'core fish'?"

"CORPHISH!"

"Okay, uh, Corphish. Hey there. Did you want something?"

Corphish nods at this, eye's glinting with curiosity. "Corrro?" It raises its claws, leveling one at Gohan before repeating the uplifting motion. It does this a few times, gesturing at Gohan. His eyes widen with realization.

"Wait, did you see me fly up here?!" A nod. "Man, I keep forgetting that isn't normal. You've never seen a person fly before, huh?" Corphish starts to nod, before moving its claw in a sort of sideways motion: a so-so. Maybe this is just the first time he's seen a flying person up close? Or something else - the world is full of weird stuff.

"Er, I guess you're pretty curious about that. Well-wait, what are you...?!"

**Wild Corphish appeared!**

"COOORRRR!"

The corphish stares down the strange human, clicking its claws. Agh, their inability to understand can be so frustrating sometimes! This anomalous human... would be the perfect human for him!

He thinks back to a few days ago when he first saw the human. He didn't look like anything special, not really. But the words the humans who brought him to the town caught his attention.

_"Appeared on Mt. Coronet... unconscious, no ID or any items... lucky he wasn't drained by a swarm of Golbat..."_

He already looked and, to be honest, _smelled_ different from a normal human. The clincher was who of all people _showed up to bring this kid in_. That blonde woman, Cynthia her name probably is. A really powerful trainer! The most powerful he's ever seen, at least. She showed up just a few hours later asking about the 'incident'.

Most Corphish in his pond didn't give half a shit about affairs of the human world. ... He didn't either, to be honest, but this situation was interesting. Passing Pokémon had told him about grand tales of battle, adventure, and terrible demons! What better way to collect experience than to tag along with a 'mysterious kid' and hope to get wrapped up in one?! Cynthia was a 'Champion' from what he heard: he didn't know what that quite meant, but he knew she wouldn't probably have any interest in him. Most of the other humans around here were simply to _weak_ to interest him. Bah! Pathetic! Stay in your homes, humans!

But this kid _could fly_. That is interesting! A worthy trainer!

**Corphish used Double Hit!**

Smack! The human stumbles back and loses some pieces of its cloth covering, but manages to roll under the second strike, shaking his head as Corphish scuttles to advance. It seems he's perceptive as well as mysterious. Any human who can fly must be special, and any human that can withstand a direct attack must be tough! He won't take no for an answer!

"Phiiiiiiiiiiiiish! _Foolish human! I, Corphish the Magnifico, have determined you to be a worthy opponent! Bring out your Poké Balls and capture me with honour!_"

To his surprise, the human stands up and immediately backpedals. He raises his hands and tries to shoo the pokémon away. "L-leave me alone, Corphish! I don't want to fight!"

"Corocophish! _Absolutely pathetic! You are something _special_. I haven't deigned to reveal myself to a trainer yet, and yet you reject me?! Ignorant nimrod!"_

"PSY! _You jackass! What do you think you're doing?!_"

Corphish and the human both turn towards the source of the interruption. Psyduck! A psyduck, at least, that appears to have followed him here. Seems he's not the only pokémon with _taste_.

"Uh..."

The human slowly backs up to leave - no! This won't do! The battle hasn't even _truly_ begun!

**Corphish used Bubble Beam!**

"GABALABLBBHBLGBLGHGBGH—!" The human stumbles under the barrage of bubbles, with Corphish raising an eyebrow. Such raw strength! Even his stumbling is from the, well, confusion of a stream of hard bubbles popping against his face and not from any actual damage. The psyduck however is not as _perceptive_ as Corphish the Magnifico and smacks him upside the head. When did he get there.

"PSY! Psyduck psyDUCK! _What is the MATTER with you?! Do you want Cynthia to _kill_ us?! At least let the kid send out a pokémon before you start trying to eat his entrails!_"

"Cor. _He doesn't have any_._ Or Poké Balls._"

"Duck?! _What?! Then what's it doing out here?! If he was further along the route he could be killed by a feral pokémon!_"

"Phi! Phishcorrr! _You fool_!" the crayfish-reminiscient monster shouts, jabbing claw towards the 'human': said human straightens his back, confused. Were those two... things, talking about him? _"That human just tanked two attacks from moi, the Magnifico! He can handle himself against birds and bugs!"_

"Psy. _Then how do you expect to get caught, if he doesn't have any Poké Balls?_"

Corphish raises a claw and starts to say something, before stopping. How... no Poké... agh! How could he be so blind?! This has been an endeavor in foolishness! This human might not even be a trainer - a mere psychic, or strongman, or some other thing! Glaring at the smug psyduck, the Ruffian Pokémon turns back towards the... oh. Right. The flying. Corphish shields his eyes as he glares off into the sky, the rising sun's glare obscuring his vision. That human! He will be found!

**Gohan got away!**

"Gah... What the... what the heck..." Gohan mumbles, leaning against the wall of a house on the outskirts of the village - coincidentally the house he had awoken in earlier this morning. That angry little lobster _probably_ couldn't have really hurt him, but it seemed dead set on fighting... he doesn't want to hurt anyone! Not even big, weird, crayfish things. ... Oh, huh, it's name is a pun on 'crawfish'. Core-fish, craw-fish, cray-fish. Hm. For a kid who took trigonometry at four years old, that took a bit too long to figure out.

"H-hey! You there!"

Huh? Gohan peers out from behind the wall of the house and sees... a girl. A short, brunette girl not much older than he is accompanied by two... creatures. Huh, there sure are a lot of weird things around here. Is this place related to Devil's Toilet?

"Chime! Chimecho, chime!"

... And it looks like that thing also suffers from core-fish syndrome. Maybe they're related?

"Yamp!"

Wait, what?! When did... daw. Gohan kneels down, looking over the dog (or rather, dog-like creature). It's pretty cute. He smiles and reaches out to pet it, which it gladly accepts: he only looks up upon noticing the approaching footsteps of the girl.

"Heh, kid, why aren't you... h-hey, wait! Your the kid we were looking for!" she shouts, her face twisting from mildly amused to ticked off in an instant. The floating creature besides her sort of 'jingles' passively. "Where the hell did you run off to?!"

"I, er, uh..."

"Never mind! I don't care, I'm taking you back to the house right now!" she snaps, grabbing ahold of his arm as the dog yips excitedly. "At least _wait_ for your hosts to wake up before you go running off - you could've been seriously hurt!"

_"By what? That corphish? It didn't seem that dangerous..."_ he wisely doesn't vocalize. The grumpy girl drags him out from behind the house and into the town proper.

"And wipe that look off your face! At least show some gratitude to us, you could've been killed during your catnap on Mt. Coronet!"

_"It seems I was right,"_ he thinks without showing any expression. _"This must be a particularly hospitable part of the world, and the persons among it quite removed from greater civilization."_

"Well? Don't you have anything to say for yourself?!" Oh, right, he's in the middle of a 'conversation'. Gohan gently tugs his arm out of her grip, causing her to stumble and barely stabilize herself against 'Chimecho'.

"Uh, nice to meet you?"

"... That's better."

He shrugs, dusting off his dirty gi as they inspect each other. Shouts ring out in the distance - seems like the entire town is up and looking for him. This, er, will probably soon become an uncomfortable situation.

"Heh, uh, I'm Gohan."

"Huh?"

"... Gohan? That's my name."

"Hmph! That's a weird name, if I've ever heard one," she says. Gohan raises an eyebrow as she quickly glances away before looking back. "... I'm Lucy. This is Chimecho," she points to the floating creature, "and this is Yamper." The dog wags its tail, absolutely _bursting_ with joy from being acknowledged. Gohan can't help but smile at its enthusiasm. "Come on. The other's should know that you're _all right_... AFTER I lock you up to make sure you don't run off again!" She wrinkles her nose. "And change your clothes too. Now that you're awake, _stop stinking up my house_!"

**Gohan got the Rose Incense!**

Lucy snorts as Gohan drapes the thing around his neck, apparently mocking his lack of pockets. Gohan sighs; wow, what a jerk. At least she's probably a good person on the inside, right? Right? His thought process is once again interrupted by the jingling of Chimecho tapping Lucy on the shoulder.

"Huh? Right, yeah, get inside! Shoo!" she yells, pushing him backwards. Gohan stumbles for a second before whirling around, and starting to walk back around the house. Sh_eesh_.

"Yampyap! Yamper!"

Awww... the li'l scamp is following him. It's so cute! A lot nicer than that crab thing. 'Corphish'. He grumbles as he pushes open the door to the house, taking a quick look back as Lucy runs off to tell everyone that she found the kid, he's fine, _praise me I saved the day_. Bah. He frowns; then Yamper yips and smacks his leg. Daw, if this little guy likes her she can't be all bad, right? She's probably just... one of those 'normal' kids. ... Gohan realizes he has never met another person his age. Dende doesn't count, he's an alien.

Huh.

Well, whatever. Yamper yips as he pushes the door all the way open and scampers inside to run under the table. He giggles at the creature's antics as he makes his way towards the bed he woke- yeah no to hell with that. Gohan covers the futon in blankets and then turns it upside-down for good measure before sitting on it.

_"Huh... this... has turned into an_ _unusual situation. I never really traveled like dad did as a kid, but I don't think that even he met monsters that just said their names over and over... maybe all of them are related somehow? Crap, am I even on Earth?! Lucy never said she was 'human'! And I still can't sense any ki..._"

Gohan sighs and lays down on the bed, laughing when Yamper suddenly jumps on him and slobbers all over his face. Heheh, whatever. This Super Duper Saiyan can take care of himself! Piccolo and the rest will be _fine_ until he can make his way back, with the help of all the people here... right?


	3. Day 0: Gohan and the Champion

It's a bit less chilly now. The sun shines through the windows, illuminating the house in a surprisingly full manner. The increase in temperature, however, does little to dissuade Gohan's nervousness. The only relief is the adorable-as-ever Yamper on the futon to his left, alongside Chimecho and Lucy pounding away at some sort of device: 'Nintendo Dee Ess'?

"So," the lady across from him begins, clasping her hands together. "What's your name?"

He gulps. While the Corphish didn't hit him too hard, he has no way of judging how strong anyone here is without his ki sense! Why isn't that working, anyways...? If he underestimates this honestly intimidating-looking woman he might end up plastered against the floorboards. If he overestimates the people living here, though...

_"Ouch. Okay, okay Gohan. You don't like fighting anyways, right? Maybe for sport with dad, but... you don't want to fight these people. They saved you from being in a coma, right? Just go along. They have every right to be suspicious." _

"M-my name's Gohan," he mumbles. As she raises an eyebrow, he stutters it out again on the assumption that she hadn't really heard him. "My n-name's Go–!"

"I heard what you said," she interrupts. He glances downwards, feeling a little awkward. "That's just a very unusual name. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone named that."

Damn. Wasn't his Grandpa Gohan supposed to be world-famous or something as a martial artist? This place must be very remote... though come to think of it, he's never actually asked anyone outside his social circle about... whatever the supposed common knowledge on martial arts is. Dang, it really must be another planet. Or, heck, another _universe_. He hasn't seen (or heard) a single normal-ish animal so far, to add to that.

"Oh, uh, er, what's your name?"

Her lips quirk up into an almost sly smile, and she laughs under her breath. "You don't know who I am? You really must not be from around here." She grins. "I'm Cynthia, Champion of the Lily Valley League and effective boss-woman of all of Sinnoh."

_"... Sinnoh? Champion...? Like Mister Satan?"_

Gohan's confused reaction is apparently not quite what she expected. Cynthia leans back in her chair, watching his expression shift as he tries to puzzle out what she means. "Oh, you really don't know who I am, do you? You really must not be from around here." She leans back towards and places her elbows onto the table. "So, Gohan, do you know what's happening? Did, well, Lucy explain the circumstances around your arrival here?"

He bows his head slightly: "No, Miss Cynthia. I, er, I'm very confused."

"No need to be so formal, really!" she half-laughs, waving a hand. "I mean, I'm not asking you to be rude but just because I'm Champion, you don't have to grovel at my feet or anything. God," she sighs, "it honestly gets old."

"All right?" He thinks, but then stops thinking. Does he really have to analyze what's happening? She's about to explain it, anyways.

"As I was saying, you, uh... you're kind of a mystery. Maybe you saw that large mountain to the west while you were outside, Mt. Coronet?" He nods, and so she continues. "Well... a trainer just sort of found you there. Lying unconscious, near the peak of the mountain. A little battered but nothing a few days of rest didn't fix. Basically you've been in a coma and we've been keeping you in that futon over there."

"Ah." He glances towards the spot where he woke up just a few hours ago. "But, why is that special or unusual? This place seems pretty... I don't know, remote?"

She crosses her arms. "Most people know better than to go off into the wilderness without their own pokémon for protection. Not only were you found _almost_ unharmed, but you totally lacked any items or pokémon. You don't even have any sort of Trainer ID, so you probably aren't a Pokémon Trainer."

"Pokémon Trainer?"

Cynthia blinks. Wait, what? That is a _severe_ lack of knowledge: is this kid from a reeeeally remote part of the regions with Pokémon Rangers? Maybe that far away region Mistia.

"You... well, anyways, the _most_ unusual part – and the reason why _I've _gotten involved (besides the fact that I live here)... is the fact that you appeared on Mt. Coronet. Do you know what's so special about Mt. Coronet?"

"... It's very high, for a mountain?"

"No."

"Oh."

"Coronet is where the Legendary Pokémon Dialga and Palkia are said to live. Or, well, we now _know_ they live there. They're spoken of in ancient myths..." she trails off as she reaches for a book on the edge of the table. Gohan watches with interest. Ancient myths? 'Pokémon' (probably some sort of term for the monsters suffering from Corphish Syndrome)? Is this the beginning of an adventure like the ones dad went on in his childhood?!

"Ah! Here it is!" she says, quickly flipping the book open to a fairly early page and flipping it around to show Gohan. She nods proudly when he notes that she was the author of this tome, and gestures for him to read. Huh, that's a pretty impressive looking creature in there: nice of her to provide a picture. It looks rather menacing: more metallic than the dinosaurs he's used to seeing at any rate. This thing definitely has power behind it, though whether it's in the ballpark to concern him is up to question. The one on the opposite page is pretty weird looking too - the two definitely are related somehow.

* * *

**Dialga: the Temporal Pokémon**

**Class: Creation Monster**

National Pokédex Number: 483

Abilities: Pressure and Telepathy

Signature Move: Roar of Time

Egg Group: Unknown, possibly Dragon or Mineral

Transformations: Primal Reversion

Age: Several billion years, suspected

Captured by: Dawn, Ethan, Brendan

Type: Steel/Dragon

Height: 5.4 m

Weight: 683 kg

Known Fusions: Dialxys (with Deoxys), Dialabi (with a celebi)

_A pokémon spoken of in legends of the Sinnoh region. It is said that time began when Dialga was first born, and that it flows with the beats of its heart. While that specific phenomenon is unconfirmed, it has displayed power over the space-time continuum superior to that shown by instances of celebi. It is extremely strong and dangerous: while captured with a Poké Ball it is cut off from its phenomenal cosmic power and so it is not recommended to keep it for too long. It rarely even tries to communicate with those around it. One is more likely to hear its cry than its true mode of speech. _

* * *

**Palkia: the Spatial Pokémon**

**Class: Creation Monster**

National Pokédex Number: 484

Abilities: Pressure and Telepathy

Signature Move: Spatial Rend

Egg Group: Unknown, possibly Dragon or Water-1

Transformations: None

Age: Several billion years, suspected

Captured by: Dawn, Ethan

Type: Water/Dragon

Height: 4.2 m

Weight: 636 kg

Known Fusions: Mania (with a manaphy)

_A pokémon spoken of in legends of the Sinnoh region. Despite being associated with the region, it is believed to inhabit a spatial dimension parallel to ours. It holds total control over the boundaries of space, and can stabilize and destabilize it at will: even to the point of traversing entire universes. Extremely powerful: like Dialga, however, capturing it with a Poké Ball cuts it off from its cosmic power and will aggravate it after an uncertain stretch of time. It rarely tries to communicate other Pokémon, though unlike Dialga will sometimes reply through its telepathic abilities._

* * *

"Huh. Are you saying... I was brought here by your gods of time and space?"

"_Our_ gods of space-time? Gohan, after the events with Team Galactic it should be common knowledge that Dialga is _the_ god of time." She frowns slightly, looking him up and down. "You really aren't from anywhere near here, are you. Where the heck did you come from?"

"Uh..." he mumbles. "Mount Paozu?"

"I've never heard of that place. Is that in Ransei?"

"No? I've never heard of Ransei."

"Oh, really? That's not surprising; it's pretty remote... Do you know what region you're from? It's not Sinnoh, and not Ransei..."

Gohan mumbles something almost incomprehensible, though it sounds an awful lot like 'Mount Paozu' again. She sighs. No one ever said the life of a Champion was easy, but now that she's here... if this was a problem she could sort out through battling this would be going a lot more quickly. It's a good thing she has experience with kids, _especially_ brats like Lucy. This one's obviously nervous... she really should keep her frustration from bubbling to the surface.

"H-hey, M-Cynthia?"

"Huh? Yes?"

"Is... the moon still around?"

"What?" Cynthia glances outside the window, despite knowing it's the middle of the morning. "Um, yes? Where would... where would the moon have gone?"

As she watches his face, he seems to realize something. His eyes widen before he blinks for a moment. Wait. Mt. Coronet... Spear Pillar... _time and space_...

Where could he have come from that he was uncertain about the state of the _dang moon_?

Probably very, _very_ far away.

"Gohan..."

"Yes?"

"You're not from this world."

He seems surprised at her saying this, but nods. "I... I think so. I only realized it just now... my world doesn't have a moon. Anymore, I mean."

She nods. "I would be inclined to disbelieve you. But I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt, considering how you... arrived here. Plus," she says, glancing back at the book of legends and crypts, "I suppose there's no reason there can't be extraterrestrial _humans_ as well as pokémon. You can stay here for now. If you want, I mean."

"Okay, uh, right" he says. "What _is_ a pokémon?"

"Oh, they're, uh," she trails off. What _is_ a Pokémon? Has she ever had to explain it to anyone before? Most people just know 'oh, that's a pokémon all right'. "They're like... monsters, I guess. It's pretty weird to imagine that your world doesn't have them, regardless of how different it is. Uh, may I continue?" He nods. Daw, what a nice kid. Probably smart too - she shouldn't hold back.

"So... you know how there's different groups of life, right? Like plants, and animals, and bacteria? Well, pokémon are their own group. No one knows their origins, but they're considered their own domain separate from life like humans and ordinary plants. They're almost all very intelligent and have their own forms of language... though it's very hard to understand. They're honestly very poorly understood. May I continue for a little bit longer?" Gohan nods again, clearly paying close attention ("Mhm, I don't mind."). "Er... it was once frequently debated whether humans were animals or pokémon, up until genetics advanced to the point that we were able to look directly. Our DNA is somewhere... in the middle, but it's significantly closer to animal life than pokémon. Basically, they're monsters. Or youkai, or whatever your home world calls them." She brushes her hair out of her face, waiting for Gohan's reply.

"... You think they're aliens? I mean, if some are aliens and they're all the same sort of 'different-life', maybe they _all_ are."

_Huh_. That's something she hadn't considered. Eh, leave that sort of speculation to the Professors: "Look, Gohan, the point is that pokémon are a part of life in this world and they're here to stay. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if humanity was the only real species of animal left a few hundred years from now, and _that's_ probably entirely because of our pokémon-like intelligence and... well, _exceptional_ individuals."

"... Exceptional individuals? You mean, like super heroes?"

"Maybe. One of the reasons the debate was so heated was that not only are many humans a lot more durable than ordinary animals, but certain ones have powers like them. Super strength or psychic powers and the like. That's not common knowledge, though: most are considered freaks of nature."

"And... and they're all _human_? Totally, normally human?"

"Yes."

"Can anyone... do you know about anyone who can do _this_?"

He raises a hand and–

"Hey, wait!"

Gohan jumps back a bit startled. "Hu-w-what?" Did he do something wrong?! He was just... ah...

"Sorry, sorry, but do you think you could do... whatever it was you were about to do outside? Just in case." He nods: she nods back and gets up to walk out the door. I guess she _does_ have reason to be concerned - what sort of _freak powers_ would this guy bring in from another world? "Hey." She glances back at the doorframe, looking at him. "What's your world's name, anyways?"

"Uh, Earth."

"Really? Huh. This world... we live on Earth too."

"Can I call it Pokémon World?"

"Pfft! Sure, Gohan. I'm going to call yours Gohan World though."

Heheh, that's mildly amusing. He smiles, hopping out of his chair and trotting up behind her as she walks outside the house with the book. They quickly turn around the house towards the edge of the town, not noticing Lucy blearily splat her face against the windows ("What are those _neanderthals_ up to...").

...

"Well?"

Gohan nods, and looks around. None of those 'pokémon' seem to be around. "Here goes?"

*vrrrt!*

An orb of light winks into existence above his outstretched palm. Cynthia's eyes widen with interest: "Gohan... huh, that's interesting..." She shakes her head, before popping her book open and flipping to a certain page. "Ah! Are you one of these?" she asks once she turns it towards him.

"Aura user...?" he mumbles as he scans the page. "Maybe? I don't think so, though... seems kind of different from what I normally do. And I've never heard of any... 'Aura Spheres'. We just call it ki."

"Qi, huh? I think some people in a far off region have some superstitions about that... maybe Ransei, people from there might know the specifics."

"I... doubt it, but all right," he says as he reads the page more intently. "Oh my god... crap! That's why I can't sense anything!"

"Sense?"

He nods. "Normally, I can sense everything around me! But none of you have ki - you're all filled with this 'aura' stuff instead!"

"Is there really that much of a difference?" she asks. "I mean..."

"Cynthia, everything, and I mean_ every_ single living thing where I come from has some supply of ki," he says with a rather urgent tone. "Either... either this place is _way_ different from what I know as normal, or I'm in an entirely different universe!"

"That seems a little far-fetched."

"It would make more sense for both of our worlds to be named Earth, in that scenario."

"... Oh, that's true."

...

"So, uh, Cynthia."

"Hm?"

"What do I do?"

She looks him up and down. If this kid really is from a wholly other universe... he might not have any idea what the hell he's doing, would he? Even if he has weird, 'aura-_like_' powers, he's... a kid. A kid involved in a _paranormal happening_, and what might be a pretty big one at that. Mt. Coronet? Spear Pillar? _Aliens_?

Maybe the world needs to be reminded that the full-grown Champions are just as useful as 'Dex-wielding rookies, no offense to Dawn and Ethan.

"Hey, Gohan," she pipes up. "Would you like to stay with us for a while?"

* * *

**Aura Guardians/Users  
Class: Phenomena**

Signature Move: Aura Sphere

Known Species:

* Humans

* Squirtles

* Mew

* Lucario

* Togetic

* Mienfoo

* Clauncher

* Creation Dragons

Type: Fighting or Psychic, suspected

_In paranormal theory, an aura is a field of light said to surround living beings, the color of which is determined by a person's disposition. While normally invisible, it can be seen under specific circumstances - or sensed by one who knows how. While Aura is supposedly a force emitted by all life, few pokémon can learn the technique Aura Sphere, and even fewer individuals can manipulate Aura in and of itself, without the usage of a Move. Abilities supposedly granted by the mastery of Aura include telepathy, 'Aura Sense', projection to create constructs similar to Moves, and enhancement of one's own life force. Interestingly, Aura needs a medium to carry its effects – similar to sound waves, it cannot exist in an empty vacuum._

* * *

"No! No no _no_! It was fine while he was knocked out, but I'm not going to... going to just let you adopt some brat you found!"

"Lucy, that is _very_ rude to say right in front of him." Cynthia sighs, though she finds it a bit amusing to see Lucy calling someone else a brat. "Gohan doesn't have anywhere to stay around here, and the circumstances of his arrival justify the Champion being involved in his affairs."

"Circumstances?! He was found sleeping on a mountain! For all you know he's a random homeless person!"

"Oh, then I guess he needs _a place to stay_ even more."

"Tch!" she grunts, crossing her arms and plopping onto her futon. Lucy grumbles to herself about random aura freaks bursting in on her nice - wait, she saw that?! ... Hrm, guess there really _isn't_ a point in keeping that hidden. They still should try not to make a big deal about it. Villainous teams have been popping up left and right lately...

"Lucy..."

"What?!"

Cynthia sighs, before pulling a back-pack out from behind herself. She practically rips it open to reveal ten Poké Balls inside: Lucy's eyes widen. "These are yours if you _be nice_, okay?"

"Uh..."

"How old are you?"

"Ten... wait... turning eleven in about a week?" she says, her voice slowly growing louder. A grin spreads over her mug, countered by Cynthia's sly smile.

"You be nice... and you get to start your very own Pokémon Journey. All right?"

"Yeah!"

...

"Hey, where's Lucy?"

Cynthia twirls around, looking Gohan dead in the eye. "At the Pokémart. Her big day is coming up and she decided to fill up on items early."

"Okay?" he says. "What did you want to do out here?"

"Well, you are a _new_ sort of paranormal creature, right?" Gohan nods a bit uncertainly. Maybe? He _can_ fly, and he _is_ new here. "Simple. I want to find out more about you. I mean, you aren't exactly part of 'mythology' but lately I've been getting interested in cryptids in general."

He nods. "All right. So... you want to know everything that makes me different from a human?"

"Yeah, everything that – what."

"Oh... uh, I'm not human. At least, entirely? My dad was an alien."

"... You know, after everything else we've established, it doesn't matter. Actually... name?"

"... Saiyans?"

"Huh. Don't get the name, but okay," she mumbles. She also absentmindedly scribbles the name onto a note - gotta write an entry later. "So what can saiyans do?"

"Uh... they're able to use ki. Really easily. And even without ki they're really strong? I know my dad fell off a cliff when he was a baby and made it out fine."

"... Is that it? You still... eat food and breathe and look normal?"

"I mean, when I was born I had a tail. But it was cut off. And, uh, when a saiyan looks at the full moon they turn into a Great Ape."

"All riiight... wait, the moon? Didn't your moon... uh, stop existing?"

"Oh. My friend Mr. Piccolo destroyed it. Because, uh, I _kind of_ turned into a giant monkey and went on a rampage."

"He... destroyed the moon."

"Yep. And then he cut off my tail, because we kind of need that too."

She breathes a sigh of relief - okay, that's probably good. He doesn't have a tail as far as she can tell. It's probably better to not have to find out if he can turn into some sort of ultra-Primeape.

"Alllllright... please don't destoy the moon? Jeez, how does that even _happen_?"

"Mr. Piccolo was - _is_, very strong."

"I'll, uh, take your word for it." she mumbles. _"Note to self! Do NOT let this this kid get ticked off! Christ, maybe get him familiarized with Pokémon Battling ASAP, before he can start solving problems with his fists. I _was_ curious about what he could do but hell if I'm going to be responsible for the next tragic Pokéstar Studios feature film."_

She's startled out of her thoughts by a Gohan leaning next to her ("Gah!"). "Miss Cynthia? Anything else you need to know?"

"No, thank you. Er... actually, I guess. Did you saiyans... uh, were you violent?"

"... Oh, uh, very. I think the term they used was their being a 'Warrior Race'." Upon seeing her face pale ever so slightly, he quickly adds that "B-but hybrids tend to lose that sort of bloodlust! My dad was a powerful warrior, but I w-want to grow up to be a scholar!"

"Hm. Did you, ah, enjoy fighting at all?"

Gohan thinks for a second. Did he? The Cell Games and to be honest, most of his life has been a bloody hell, but training with dad and Mr. Piccolo was honestly... pretty nice.

"I guess so. I never liked the blood, or the pain, but I guess I'm fine with friendly competition." A nervous smile cracks his façade. "Though, I don't know if anyone here can give me one."

"Oh, really?" she smirks. "Don't think that the Sinnoh Champion would go down easy, saiyan or not."

"... Wait, what? You really want to fight me?"

She shrugs. "Sure. I mean, I'm not _supposed_ to accept challenges for the Champion title unless you've already gone through the Pokémon League... but, I mean, this isn't a battle for the title. So I don't... I don't think..."

"What?"

"Crap, you think I mean actually _fighting you_. By myself."

"Uh, how else would we fight?"

*sigh* "Gohan, what did I tell you about this world?"

"That the moon... that this world revolves around the existence of those pokémon? You want to fight me with pokémon?"

Cynthia nods. "Yes. Okay, Gohan, maybe I better explain to _you_ how this all works. Sit down." He sits, looking up expectantly and ready for knowledge. This is a _Champion_, right? She probably knows what she's talking about.

"Gohan, what could be considered the dominant past-time in this world is Pokémon Battling. Since you are from a world... without pokémon, I'm going to assume the closest thing you know of would be it's unsavory cousin cockfighting?"

He nods uneasily. Cockfights? Like... they make these monsters fight each other for sport?!

"See, this is what I was worried would happen. Look. You said you were fine with fights that were in good fun, right? Pokémon are natural fighters. They _like_ fighting. Human intervention honestly is probably what keeps them from seriously hurting each other in actual, bloody combat."

"Oh, okay. So... pokémon..."

"Pokémon are often captured for usage in pokémon battles, though that isn't the only possible reason. They can also be used for more mundane jobs, as pets, or to act as protection from _wild_ pokémon who may attack you. While some pokémon might show themselves in hopes of _getting_ captured in a bid to improve their skills in combat under the direction of a human, they could just as likely have decided to dine on human meat that day."

"I see... so, Lucy is a battler?"

"The term is 'Pokémon Trainer'. And no, she isn't old enough yet. Chimecho and Yamper are just her pets – though when she turns eleven next week, I bet she'll want to."

"Wait, the age is eleven years old?! I'm eleven!"

"Great. Your pokémon journey will start with Lucy's."

"W-what?! I never even said I wanted to take part in this! ... Okay, maybe it _does_ sound like a way to pass the time while I try to figure out what to do here and get back... but I don't know the first thing about 'capturing' a pokémon!"

"Use these."

"Wha-?!" Gohan shouts as he stumbles back. The orb, seemingly coming from nowhere, bonks him in the head and he barely catches it. Cynthia mumbles an apology as he looks it over. It's pretty small and smooth, probably small enough to fit in a pocket. If he had any, that is. There's a black band going around it splitting the thing into two sections, one bright red and the other white. There's a big button on it - centered on the black line. Is this...?

"This is a Poké Ball. Old ones were really chunky and from heavy metal, but these are... made out of hollowed fruit called apricorns? I'm not actually sure how they work, exactly, but thats how we capture and store pokémon. The big button let's it change between storage mode and a 'release mode' which actually sends the pokémon in and out."

"So it's a sort of capsule technology?"

"Uh, yes, actually. How did you know?"

"Heh, you mean besides the fact that I don't think you could fit a monster in this tiny thing?" Cynthia blushes a mild pink, though she tries to hide it. "We have Hoi-Poi Capsules back home."

"How do those work?"

Inspecting the Poké Ball from below, he rambles: "Kind of the opposite, actually. They just sort of shrunk whatever you put in them - but they were usually miniaturized _objects_, not things that you could store other things inside. I think you could only 'capture' something if you got them to go inside it while it was 'full grown' and _then_ capsulized it."

"Huh. That's not at all how Poké Balls work. They convert pokémon into _data_."

"Really?!" he says, jumping off the ground (and accidentally letting the Poké Ball fall). "How is that even possible?! That's amazing!" He tones it down once he sees how offput Cynthia is by his reaction. "I-I mean, that's really interesting."

"I could say the same about how your people can just... shrink things. We can't do that. Even then, we can only do pokémon. Just something about them let's them be... energized, I think. Humans and normal animals can't be captured. The only exception to that are special items, that themselves are _based_ on how pokémon work."

"Huh..." he says, looking at the Poké Ball with newfound wonder. "So what kind of pokey monster is stored in there?"

"For your information, pokémon stands for _pocket monster_. ... Yes, they are even named after part of the battling pastime. It really is a big deal for us."

As he picks it up, she continues. "Anyways, that ball contains my garchomp. Uh, Garchomp. He was my starter... evolved him all the way from a gible."

"Evolved?"

"Oh, that's a whole 'nother conversation..."

...

"So you have to earn eight of these badges... and then once you've gotten them you have the right to challenge the Pokémon League directly? And if you beat the Elite Four and the Champion... you get to be the next one?"

"That's about it."

Gohan nods, seemingly _very_ interested in the whole process. It... sounds like fun, honestly. And he'd be on equal footing with everyone else - his saiyan strength wouldn't be able to, well, splatter them against the pavement like it would in a fight between him and an opponent as individuals. The sun shines high above them – Lucy is apparently still out, and the grassy knoll just behind the house has been worn by Gohan and Cynthia's movements over it. The rocky backdrop of the foothills glisten in the noon light as Cynthia wraps up the lecture.

"So, you in? I'll even go easy on you, if you tag along with Lucy on _her_ journey. God knows she's foolhardy to charge a legendary beast and... well, I think you might be better protection than that squishy Yamper of hers."

"Yeah, sure! Sounds kind of fun. I mean, as long as the pokémon I get actually _like_ battles. I don't want to, like, _force_ anything to fight."

"Gohan, please. If a pokémon shows up in front of you in the first place, it's because it wants you to either train it to fight or it wants to fight _you_. Either way it should be fine with it."

"Hm. Okay, okay. I'll do the whole pokémon journey thing. Maybe I'll even win, who knows? Where should I start?"

"Don't know. Just follow Lucy. She definitely wouldn't follow _you_."

"All right. Hey, uh, thanks for all the info. And for letting me stay at your house. I really owe you one."

She waves her hand dismissively, though she's smiling. "It's fine, it's fine. You needed a place to stay, and we had a free bed while my grandparents are visiting Professor Rowan. You really _are_ a nice kid, though. I do hope you make it past the Elite Four... if you challenge the Lily Valley League, that is."

"T-thanks, Cynthia. Heh."

* * *

**Misterror: the Red Fog of Terror**

**Class: Demon**

National Pokédex Number: Unconfirmed to either exist or be a pokémon

Signature Move: Infestation

Egg Group: Unknown, possibly Amorphous

Transformations: Red Fog

Type: Ghost/Dark or Ghost/Psychic, suspected

Height: 4.2 m

Weight: 10 kg

_A monster said to have been seen around the world, particularly in Unova and Kalos. Said to originate in another dimension, it supposedly manifests as a red mist and 'infects' humans and pokémon to support its existence. It's mature core is significantly larger than the infested humans it surrounds itself with. The Misterror is incapable of communication and cannot be captured in any sort of available Poké Ball. It is currently classified as an 'unconfirmed cryptid': most public knowledge of it comes from the popular film series '_Red Fog of Terror'. _It's probably made up._


	4. Cherri's Impassable Test!

"Uhd-uhd-uhd...!"

"Psy. _Corphish, what are you doing?_"

The Ruffian Pokémon glares at his fair-weather friend, the filthy duck who _dares_ to block his view of his prey! He grumbles and shifts slightly to the side, being careful not to fall back into Celestic Pond (is that what it's called? Probably).

"Cor! _Begone, you pestilent platypus! I, the MAGNIFICO, have set my sights on that 'saiyan'!_"

"Psy-DUCK. _Oh, and now you're making up words. Great._"

Corphish rolls his eyes and settles into his stakeout. 'Gohan', as he has deduced is the human- I mean _saiyan's_ name, is being trained by the Champion herself (and also her sister)! He must make an effort to be caught by this, lest some idiotic bug catcher happen by and doom him to a career of mediocrity! The duck rolls the eyes of his own, and flops into the pond. He leisurely kicks around, spinning into a laid-back float perfect to watch Corphish's shenanigens.

"Psy duck? _What's your plan for if Cynthia sicks Garchomp on you?_"

"Phish! _Use Iron Defense!_"

"Duck psy duck sIGH DUCK. _Corphish can't learn Iron Defense, and your moveslots are already taken up by Double Hit, Bubble Beam, Leer, and Knock Off._"

"Ccorrroro! _Shshshsh! They're doing something!_"

...

"Okay, Gohan, Cynthia told me to teach you how to do this – so, uh, here's your Poké Ball."

Gohan takes the orb, looking it over one more time. It looks the same as yesterday when Cynthia showed one to him. He's _really_ going to have to sit down and examine how these work one of these days. "So, I just chuck it at...?"

"Yamp! Yap yap!"

Lucy nods. Gohan mumbles his apologies as the Yamper scampers around in circles, barking excitedly. "H-how do I throw it again?"

"Just like, spin it with your wrist or something! It should be able to figure it out!"

"Okay... here goes!"

***bONK***

Yamper whines as the ball bounces off his head, dropping to the floor. The two children watch the inert ball as Yamper rolls around in the grass. "O-oh, right, I already _own_ Yamper. A Poké Ball wouldn't work."

"Did I at least throw it right?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. You did great."

...

"COR! COCOCORRRO! _You see? You see?! He's already gearing up to catch a starter! That was practice, a practice shot!_"

"Psyduck. _Delusional as you are, if he is as incredible as you say he is would he not _need_ a pokémon?_"

"Cor. _If he wants to compete in the Pokémon League._"

"... Psy. _... That's valid._"

Corphish salutes, twirling around and stretching. Psyduck sighs as he jumps! He dives! Plunging past the psyduck, the magikarp, the barboach and goldeen as he sinks to the bottom of the pond, kicking his scuttley crab-legs as he pumps his way towards his kind.

"CRAW. _HELLO, LITTLE CORPHISH. WHY DO YOU RETURN._"

"Corrrr-o! _I, the Magnifico, have returned to bid farewell to my family!_"

The last crawdaunt left in the pond nods, and steps aside for Corphish to make his way into the colony. The bottom of the pond is bursting with life, crab-like monsters scrabbling everywhere! Mm, he smells some whiscash decaying.

"Crrrro! _Friends! Family! I have returned from the surface world!_"

The entirety of the colony glances towards him, before going back about their business: a relatively small percentage stay and swim in to greet the self-styled conquistador. In sharp contrast to his self-image, the Magnifico is rather an unimportant figure in his community. Tolerated for the amusement he provides, and little else. I shall spare you the details – but let it be known that Corphish the Magnifico made an utter fool of himself in front of his colony, while remaining none the wiser. No learning experiences here.

...

"Okay Lucy, so what now?" he asks her. He turns over the Poké Ball in his hand, still trying to inspect it. "Do I catch one?"

"Uh... no. You have to get certified."

"Oh, all right. How do I do that?"

"You have to go to a Pokémon Center and pick up an ID. You have to be _eleven_."

The half-saiyan glances around, scratching the back of his head. "I, uh, _am_ eleven. I've been eleven for a while."

"W-what?! Y-you're..."

"I'm older than you...?"

"No! Shut up! Hmph!" she grumbles, twisting away and sticking her nose into the air. Wot a brat. He sighs, and plops onto the ground.

"If you have to be eleven... how come you have Chimecho and Yamper?"

"Be_cause_ I wasn't the one who caught them! They... they're hand-me-downs. From Cynthia."

Chimecho jingles angrily. Hand-me-downs, really? That's a pretty shitty way of describing your partners.

"... Can I have Yamper?"

"What, _no_! He's _my_ Yamper!"

"Okay. So can I catch a pokémon?"

"No!"

"... Do you just not want me to catch a pokémon before _you_ do?"

Lucy growls, glaring at him with an intensity he's only seen from his mother before. Jeee-sus _christ_ that's unnerving. He must've been right. It must be perfectly legal to _have_ a pokémon young - you probably just can't use them in cockfights.

"Okay, okay! I'll drop it, you happy?" With this he tosses her the Poké Ball. She catches it, and looks it over before looking back at him with a blank expression.

"... Yes."

Yamper whines and jumps up onto Gohan, pushing him forwards as the corgi-esque creature paws at him ("Yamp! Yamper!"). He lets himself fall to the floor as the dog scampers over him, licking his face as he laughs. What a cute dog! He should have gotten a pet, back home... oh, hey Lucy.

Lucy snorts as she looks down into Gohan's face, covered in dog slobber. Yamper lays on his chest, yipping excitedly as it... makes even more slobber.

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

Lucy blushes a bit, glancing away. "So, uh, here." With no fanfare, she sticks out her hand and tries to return the Poké Ball. He reaches up and takes it. Woo. "You can catch a pokémon if, you, want. I was... _lying_. You were right. You just need the ID to train the ones you do have."

"I, uh, okay?"

With this... _gesture_ out of the way, she straightens up, turns around, and stomps off. Gohan sits up, catching Yamper in his arms before the pokémon can fall to his lap ("Yap!").

"... She really is a piece of work, huh?"

"Yamp!"

Gohan gently places the corgi on the ground and wipes the slobber off. "You're smart, right? You understand what I'm saying." The dog yips in confirmation. "Huh, okay. Do you know... how I'm supposed to get one of these IDs?"

"Yap!"

"Lead the way, Yamper!"

Yamper yips, but with _purpose_. It bumps against Gohan's leg before shooting forwards ("W-wait up!"). The two run through the small town, whistling between the buildingsf as Yamper makes a ring around the central depression. The Corgi Pokémon skids to a stop halfway across, sliding to an end before the iconic red-brick building known as the Pokémon Center. He gulps: it only now occurs to him that he still knows _nothing_ about pokémon themselves - he could very well fail to get his ID. Or license, whatever. ... Well, he'll _definitely_ fail if he stays outside. Gohan pats Yamper and tells him to "Run back to Lucy, little buddy! I'm sure I can figure it out from here."

...

So this is the Pokémon Center, huh? Looking around, it doesn't look like much. Pretty empty, even the little lounge area to the right has no one in it. There are some stairs to the left, and a map in the far right corner. Yeah, this _really_ isn't his Earth.

"Hey, kid. You wanna rest your pokémon?"

Should this (according to her name tag) Nurse Cherri be smoking a cigar while on the job? To be fair, it doesn't look like much is happening, but still. She's lounging behind the counter, her arm propped up against what he presumes to be the pokémon-healing-device while she reads a magazine. Other than the computer-looking thing to her left, it's about the only interesting thing in here.

"Uh, no thank you?"

"Really? It's free. Don't even know why I'm here. It takes like, a second."

"Miss Cherri, I don't _have_ any pokémon."

"Huh? Then why ya..." she lowers her magazine, staring him in the eye. "Oh! You must be a newly eleven year-old or somethin'. Yeah, you came to the right place, kid. Better than walking all the way to Eterna City or some crap." She hoists herself off her chair, hacking up a storm while Gohan glances around nervously. Should she really be a nurse? "Upstairs, kid. I'll give ya the lesson and send you on yer way."

"Uh..."

"Up!"

He scurries up the stairs, clutching the Poké Ball he has. Should he have this? Eh, he'll get to use it later, at any rate. Looking around, he takes a seat on one of the beanbag chairs as Miss Cherri emerges from the first floor lugging an... is that a television set. No? It's a minifridge. Why the heck does it have a screen?

"Think fast, kid."

Gohan barely snatches the fruit out of the air! King Kai Almighty, is she _trying_ to earn a citation? ... I guess it's nice that she's providing snacks? The television flickers as she plops into a chair next to him and whips out... a Poké Ball.

"Okay kid, so, like, since you're here in the first place you think you can make it as a trainer. Or at least, you want ta be able to boss around your pokémon while ya walk around outside town. Issat right?"

"Uh, yes?"

"Aight. Just remember that ya should probably make time to do some _learning_. It's a choice between edumacation and pokémon training out there, kid, both take a lot of time."

"I'll take that into consideration."

"Great, great. SO," she says, lurching up out of her seat towards the minifridge. "Tha first thing you gotta know about pokémon is how to catch one. You gots a mom or pops around?"

"N-no."

"Well well well," she mumbles into her cigar, "you'se got a Poké Ball?"

"Yes?"

"Okey dokey. You find a pokémon you like – and you _hit it over the head_ with a rock or somethin'. It might run away, but if it don't then you got a pretty okay shot at catching it. Get yourself a starter within town, got it?"

"Yes!"

"Aight," she says as she takes out a plate of small berries. "Y'want some oran berries?"

"No thanks."

She nods, seemingly extracting some sage wisdom from his refusal to eat weird berries. "Any-*COUGH*-ways, watcha gotta learn about are _stats_. You know what stats a pokémon's got?"

"Uh–"

"They got speed, defense, attack, _SPECIAL_ defense and attack, and HPs. They also got 'accuracy' and 'evasiveness' but them can't be vitamined-up. Those all're important, capiche, kid?"

"Okay? What do those mea–"

Gohan is immediately cut off by her half-drunken mumbling. At least she seems knowledgeable on what she's talking about. She... she wouldn't have this position if she was _wrong_, right? He nods absently along as she rambles on about some things called EVs and IVs and how you got to get pokémon with specific IVs to make them shiny. What would a shiny pokémon do? Blind people? He takes a bite out of the fruit she tossed him–

"Whoah there, kid. Kid! Stop bitin'!"

"Bwuh?" he blinks, confused as she grabs the fruit out of his hand. He crunches what's in his mouth as she looks it over.

"... Huh. You got some dang mighty chompers, huh?" she says as she awkwardly holds the fruit back out for him. He takes it, looking it over... "Them apricorns harder en' steel, they are. How the _heck_ you manage to crunch it up?"

"I have high attack?"

"Aight." Wait, she bought that? That's... okay, then. "So kid... you know 'bout type matchups?"

"No."

"Okay so... all pokémon got a type, right?" This sounds like something actually important... he listens closely, less of his attention being directed towards cracking open the apricorn in his mouth. "All them pokémon you can find in this here town are water types – thas' pretty good, they can learn Surf to carry ya over water. But they'res a bunch more. Pokémon can be any of the... eighteen types, or even two at the same time. Like, gyarados is water and flying type, and that other kid's yamper is electric type, which means it can't be paralyzed..."

He nods along, actually rather interested in the Type Matchup dynamics. It seems like really complicated janken... something he could relate to. Dad always did love his janken. Though, it does leave him with a lot of questions. Are poison types immune to poison in _general_ or just type-based pokémon poison? Same with fire types, electric types, and ice types for their respective 'status conditions'. What type is _he_ – would he be normal or fighting? Or something else? Do types even apply to humans? Cynthia made a point of seperating pokémon and normal animals. Do the dragons grant wishes - heck, are there any actual dragons that aren't just 'dragon type'? And would a psychic type be a match for his own _intellectual prowess_? ... An IQ of 5000?! Jee whiz, never mind.

"M'kay kid, you ready for your test?"

"Ba-huh? Uh, yes!"

"Okay, er, name all the pokémon types."

He blinks. What? Right now? The look in her eyes... well, she doesn't really look like she cares. Er...

"So, uh, by 'metal' I think you meant Steel and by 'wood' I think you meant Grass. Also you completely missed Ice, Ground, and Normal types. And I think you mixed up Ghost and Dark types."

"So, uh..."

"Ya passed. Congrats. Yer a Pokémon Trainer."

"..."

She then starts hacking up a storm, accidentally letting her cigar fall to the ground before she stamps it out. Geez, she's cute, but good _god_ she needs to get off the smoke. Cherri shoves the minifridge to the side before going back down the stairs: Gohan follows her as she meanders towards the computer thing. "Okay kid, just walk up to the PC." Wait, it's really just called a PC? "It should, uh, make you a trainer card. Just press all the right buttons and stuff."

Huh, all right. Cherri presses a few things on the screen and then walks out of the way. Presumably her job is done, as she hops over the counter back into her seat to resume her reading. Gohan looks at the screen and, glancing around one last time, starts to fill out the information.

Name: Son Gohan

Money: Uh, zero? Zero Poké-Units or whatever they're called.

Region: ... Cynthia said this place was called Sinnoh, right? Sinnoh. Yeah.

Starter: He, uh, doesn't have a pokémon yet. Just gotta clic oh hey, 'no pokémon' is an option!

Started: Oh, nothing to type here. It's just the date. ... July 11th, 2001? This is the _future_? Over a thousand years in the future, wow. ... Or just a different calendar. That makes more sense.

***CLICK!***

"Agh!" His eyes! Argh! No warning, really?! ... Oh, hey, there's his card sticking out of the PC. He grabs it and inspects it – it looks pretty hi-tech. As he grabs it it shimmers with energy. Man, will this thing update on the fly? That'd be pretty sweet. Hopefully it updates when he catches a pokémon, too.

"Uh, I have my card now. So..."

"Get outta here and getcherself a pokémon. Come back soon."

"All right? See you later."

"Bye, kid."

Gohan sighs, and clutches the card in his hand. Damn, he really should get some pants with pockets. As he opens the door to leave the Pokémon Center–

**Wild Corphish appeared!**

"GAH!"

"CRROOOOOO—_aghk_!"

**Wild Corphish is blasting off!**

Gohan wheezes. Oh god, oh crap, oh jesus, did he just...

"D_amn_ kid, why you even _need_ a pokémon?! You just punted that bugger clear outta town!"

"I... uh... uh...!"

"Yeah, that crawfish prolly fainted dead away. I'd recommend chasin' after it." A quick glance back shows that she's flashing him two thumbs-up: looks like she's taken a liking to him. Heheh, probably wouldn't want to get on his bad side. "See ya, kid–!" is all he manages to hear before the door finally shuts behind him (it took him this long to move out of the doorframe, huh).

The cliff face just south of the Pokémon Center now has a noticeably Corphish-shaped hole in it. The Magnifico twitches at the bottom of it, unable to extract himself as his vision hazes over. The saiyan child takes a few steps from the Pokémon Center, looking back and forth - and causing Psyduck to _instantly_ smack itself against the other side of the building. _Kyogre's shit on a stick_ that kid is strong!

"Ps-s-s-syyyyyy d_uck_... _I-i-is Corphish dead?! He can't be dead, can he? He's too stupid to die!_"

A quick peek over the side of the building shows that Corphish is, in fact, _not dead_. The Gohan kid appears to have... smashed the rock face around him and pulled the unconscious pokémon out. And... and tapped a Poké Ball to his head. Isn't that illegal? Whatever, doesn't matter to him. He turns away in a huff as synthetic sound effects indicate the Corphish's capture... Well, he got what he wanted. He doesn't have to stick around.

"Whoah... what're you?"

"OWWWWRD OWRD!"

And Gohan thus loses sight of the the wild pokémon whence it flops into the pond, screaming its ducky head off. He shrugs and immediately turns around towards the Pokémon Center he just left – he has a feeling it might need healing.

...

"Oh, Gohan! You're back. ... Where's Lucy?"

Gohan looks up at Cynthia, and answers with a simple "I dunno." She sighs. Seems like her running off isn't exactly unusual.

"So, Gohan, what've you been doing?" She leans forwards, putting her face in her hands as she looks at him. He scratches the back of his head in a _mildly_ nervous manner.

"Eheh~, I got my card thing." For good measure he holds it up. Cynthia raises an eyebrow at this – she had figured Cherri would blow him off. Ah, well, this is good. "And I caught a pokémon?"

"Really! So, you have your Trainer Card and a starter pokémon?" He nods in confirmation. "You might want this." She smiles and pulls out a gift from under the table – a backpack. Nothing special, really; a few pockets, for everything a trainer might need. Berries, TMs, some Key Items... you know, stuff. Gohan gasps as he takes the backpack, looking it over as he takes a seat. He slips the Trainer Card into it and places his Poké Ball on the table.

"Thank you so much, Miss Cynthia!"

"Heheh, you're very welcome. And please – I'm just Cynthia."

He nods, still grinning from the gift. It's not much... but it speaks for the peoples' kindness. Even a universe away, human decency is an almost constant constant.

"So, Gohan. How about we see that pokémon of yours?"

"All right!" he says, hopping off. He clicks the Poké Ball to increase it to full size, and hopes he's using it right. "Should I say something, or...?"

"Nah, just throw the ball. It should pop back into your hand if you don't jump away or anything."

"Mhm, mhm. Uh... go!" Gohan shouts, throwing the Poké Ball with a flourish. "Core-fish!"

"Whoah! A corphish? That's really cool, Gohan. How'd you catch it?" The Corphish itself grumbles, it's bizarre cry emanating from it's shell as it turns around and looks up at its new trainer.

"I, uh... I kicked it?" Seeing Cynthia's blank look, he adds that "It surprised me on the way out of the Pokémon Center, and I kicked it and then threw the Poké Ball?"

"Okay, that seems a little farfetched. But I'll take your word for it." The corphish looks up at her and blanches for a second, realizing whose house it's in. It then puffs up its chest and starts to howl in that uhd-uhd-uhd way of his– arrogance and logic waging their eternal war, within its enigma of a mind. "Is it hungry? Or... actually, have you checked it's data yet? You might want to learn about it."

"Huh... no, the closest thing I've done is giving it a nickname when the Trainer Card told me to. How do I...?"

"Oh, just return the corphish. You know how, right?" She looks at him expectantly, crossing her arms.

"Uh..." he holds up the Poké Ball, pointing the button towards the crawdad. "Corphish?" It looks up at him, chirping. "Return!" Through an unknown means a red light shoots out of the orb, illuminating his target. Corphish chirps as it dissolves into raw data and spirits into the depths of the Poké Ball. "Now what, Miss Cynthia?"

"Okay... you don't have a Poké Dex, right?" His blank look confirms what she already was pretty sure about. Doesn't hurt to make sure though – maybe Professor Rowan had swung by, you never know. "Let me get out my PC..."

Cynthia takes out a small lap-top computer. "This is my PC... pretty cool, right? Place your Poké Ball riiiight there." He does so, turning it so the button on its face is touching the computer. She swivels the computer around, letting Gohan touch it. "Go ahead, figure it out. You're smart, I'm sure you can do it." With a glance at his Poké Ball, he looks at the PC and starts to figure out how it works...

* * *

GOHAN booted up the PC. Which PC should be accessed?

/GOHAN's PC

Accessed GOHAN's PC. What do you want to do?

/Item Storage

/Exit

/Turn Off

Which PC should be accessed?

/Someone's PC

The Pokémon Storage System was opened.

/Move Pokémon

/Party Pokémon

/CORE-FISH [male]

/Summary

/Info

CORE-FISH [male]

Lv. 24

[no mark]

Item : None

Dex No. 341

Species : CORPHISH

Type : WATER

OT : GOHAN

ID No. 45748

Exp. Points : 20

To Next Lv. 10486

/TRAINER MEMO

RASH Nature

July 11th, 2001

CELESTIC TOWN

Met at Lv. 24.

Proud of its power.

/SKILLS

Ability : Hyper Cutter

Prevents the Attack stat from being lowered.

/MOVES

DARK : Knock Off

WATER : Bubble Beam

NORMAL : Double Hit

NORMAL : Leer

/RIBBONS

/RETURN

Continue box operations?

/No

/See ya!

Which PC should be accessed?

/Log Off

* * *

"Wow... the Poké Ball can find out all that, just from catching it?"

"Yep. It's how most trainers know how to start using a newly acquired pokémon - for example, it showed us that Lucy's Yamper knows Tail Whip."

"Nice! How can... uh... what do I do now?"

She smiles at him. "Well, I suppose you could start your journey. The nearest gym is in Eterna City across the mountains: but of course, it doesn't matter _which_ badges you have so long as all eight of them are official. An acquaintance of mine, Ethan, entered the Ever Grande League with badges from several different regions. Just please let Lucy catch up with you once she leaves on her own."

"All right. Come on, Core-fish!" he says, looking down at the orb containing his new companion. "We're going on an adventure! One where _smarts_ will be more important than brawn!" Having said such, he confidently strides out of the house, unaware of the amused smirk he has left on Cynthia's face.

* * *

**Starfie, or Alolan Cleffa**

**Class: ****Cryptic**

National Pokédex Number: Unconfirmed

Egg Group: Fairy, suspected

Transformations: None

Type: Normal/Psychic or Normal/Fairy, suspected

Height: 0.3 m

Weight: 5.5 kg

_Stated to be a possible relative to the clefairy line, this pokémon has never been officially documented. However, rumours about it circulate widly throughout the more remote parts of the Kanto, Johto, and Orre regions. It is said to resemble a star, with a cone with a bulbous growth atop its head and... a generally cleffa-shaped body. The mystery may be answered soon – former Ever Grande Champion, Brendan, claims to have caught one during his travels._


	5. On to Mt Coronet - Ace Trainer Ken!

"UHD-UHD-UHD."

"What is it, Core-fish?"

The starter grumbles, turning around and whipping its claws up dramatically. It seems really insistent on... something. Gohan's the trainer, but Core-fish has been here longer, right? What if he wants to tell him something important?

"Corrrororooro! Corrophish phishcor! _Gohan! Master! My leige! I understand – you wish to begin your journey towards_ Championhood_ posthaste! Yet, we must first pick up a valued ally, who despite his _stolidity_ is sure to be of assistance__!_"

The saiyan nods, seeming to consider his words despite him obviously not understanding. "Er, well, lead the way?" At least he recognizes the ruffian's _absolute_ knowledge! Heheh, he has chosen a trainer well! "Wait, isn't this just back to the town... the one we left five minutes ago?"

Core-fish the Magnifico nods, quite certain that he will get the point across. They must go back! The psyduck awaits! A quick glance behind him... confirms nothing, but Gohan _does_ have his backpack. He hopefully has some Poké Balls in there. Heck, with Cynthia having taken him under her wing he might have Dive or Great Balls, or something.

They meander back into Celestic Town, bumbling around the buildings as they wind their way back to the pond. Once they get close, Core-fish suddenly stops and points. On the other side of the pond is a small congregation of pokémon from what Gohan can see... and Core-fish seems to be pointing at one in particular.

"Huh? You want me to catch that... duck?" Thinking back on it, he caught a glimpse of that one when he first met Core-fish! Are they friends? Daw. "I guess this is as good a time as ever to practice capturing... or catching, I think?" Gohan kneels down behind his starter, tapping it to get its attention. "You think you can get that duck pokémon to come over here?"

"CORRO! _Of course~. No mere mortal can resist, the fantastic cry of corphish!_"

"All right!" Gohan proceeds to turn around and fumble with his backpack as Core-fish wanders into the pool. The water is familiar... too familiar! Once this is over and done with, a move-on should be gotten! To Mt. Coronet! That is where all the strong Pokémon Trainers and their charges are, yes? Worthy opponents for a magnificent crustaceoid!

"Corro. _Pst! Psyduck!_"

"PSY! _Gah!_"

The Duck Pokémon stumbles, tripping over his own feet before falling flat onto its belly. He slowly turns his head and widens his eyes when he realizes who just startled him. "Duck duck?! Psy-duck?! _Corphish?! You're alive?!_"

"Corrorrroo! Corrorophiieeeeeesh. _Of course~. My friend, my amigo, master Gohan has sent for me to recruit you._"

"Psiiiii. _Oh, really? Did he now?_"

Corphish nods, not noticing any sort of undertone which may be in Psyduck's voice. "Cor! Coro, corrrorophish. _Yes! Now, get in this Poké Ball._"

"Psy. _No._"

Gohan watches the confrontation from across the pond... this is the part where they fight, isn't it?

"Uh, so, I..."

"Uhd!"

The pokémon in the nearby pond watch with interest– psyduck and barboach and magikarp, and more, oh my. A Pokémon Battle, here in Celestic Town? Right next to the pond where they can _watch_? Nice. The well-respected Psyduck clenches his... fists, as Core-fish clacks his claws. Gohan himself gulps and holds his free Poké Ball (not the one Core-fish is holding). Psyduck is going to live in there. He is going to capture a pokémon the _right_ way, without beating it into submission... himself?

**The wild psyduck used Aqua Tail!**

**Core-fish avoided the attack! The Poké Ball was dropped!**

"Uh..." what were his moves again?! Hitting... bubble things... "Core-fish! Use Bubble Beam!"

The tubby duck is slapped by the barrage of bubbles: it's flesh jiggles but it doesn't seem seriously hurt. Or very hurt at all, for that matter. It doesn't seem to have been very effective.

"Psiiiiiii..." **The wild psyduck used Surf! It's not very effective...**

"Core-fish?! What happened?!" Core-fish scrabbles at the ground, absolutely _soaked_ from the sudden wave before Psyduck places a webbed foot on its chest to hold him down. The psyduck cackles as Core-fish glares at it, shaking a 'fist'. It takes a quick scuttlestep forwards before remembering its place as... well, Gohan's. Said Gohan checks his Trainer Card and is relieved to see the data for his pokémon on it. Thing is pretty useful.

"Uuuuuse... Leer?"

Core-fish proceeds to leer at the opponent. His eyes_ glow red_, even: this is clearly a Move, with a capital m. Psyduck can feel his defensive abilities draining.

**The wild psyduck used Struggle!** And by that, I mean he smacks Core-fish upside the face and cackles. He winces at the recoil – but by god this is _worth it_. Plus, Core-fish is way below his level – he should be close to fainting.

"COR! _OW! What the hell, amigo?_"

"Psy! DUCK! _I! Am not your 'amigo'! This is a fight! And I–_"

**GOHAN threw a Poké Ball at the psyduck!**

...

. . .

. . .

**Gotcha! Psyduck was caught! Would you like to nickname the psyduck?**

...

"So, uh, Sighduck... hello! I'm going to train you."

The psyduck sighs (of course), knowing without knowing exactly how Gohan butchered his name. They're back at the Pokémon Center... to heal, obviously. Core-fish laughs at his expense – unfortunately, Core-fish can't read. So he doesn't know his own naming predicament. The two just sort of sit in the corner of the center, lounging on a couple of seats.

"So, you already caught two?" Nurse Cherri coughs out. She takes a long drag of her cigar as she looks them over. "Good on ya. Maybe you can do right n' proper battles without _killing_ the other pokémon."

"T-thanks! I think?"

"Yep. You gonna be a water trainer or something?"

"Hm..." he thinks. A water trainer? Water _is_ important. It's, like, seventy percent of a person's body. And like ninety percent of Mr. Piccolo's body. But... "No, I don't think so."

"Aight. Woulda been a good choice – them water pokémon tend to be pretty good." Core-fish seems to puff up with pride at this indirect compliment. The two pokémon seem to know each other... well, that's probably why Core-fish led him back to town, right? To get the duck. It's moves are... Aqua Tail, Surf, Confusion, and Body Slam? "Huh. An HM Move? And Body Slam? Must've been a breedin' experiment – or a previously owned poké that got released."

"... Nurse Cherri, what's an HM?"

"Huh? You really don't know anything, hm?" He slowly nods... his origins should be kept a secret, right? Not that he can think of any real reason for that... but it seems like the thing to do in this situation. Other than Cynthia and Lucy, he should be _alien incognito_. "A TM is a sorta... disc-thingie. It stands for Technical Machine. You slot it into a Poké Ball and if the pokéman can use it, they learn the move it represents. Right hard to program. HMs are the same but, like, for Field Moves."

"What's a Field Move?"

"Uh... a move you use outside of battle? Legal ones, anyways... ain't no good to get arrested for using Flamethrower outside of battle. I think some TMs can be Field Moves, but _e'rry_ HM is one. Just gotta get permission first... prove your worth as a trainer, or get a license, or something."

"Wow! Pokémon are really used for a lot... what sort of Moves get used like that?"

"Er, well, your psyduck knows Surf? You could... go across a pond or something. A pokémon with Strength can like... move rocks around, and one with Rock Smash can smash... rocks. Ya know, Lucy told me you could _fly_, I don't think you really need them."

"Oh... well, it might still be useful." Hm. His strength was helpful in catching pokémon, but it... really would take a lot out of the adventure aspect of it, wouldn't it? He'll just have to resolve to walking around normally. Unless he gets _really_ bored. Then he can fly. "Should I get going? Cynthia said the next city over was on the other side of the mountain."

"Dunno, kid. The other one – Lucy, her birthday is in just a few days. You could wait for her. Or take 'er along. Ain't no rule she can't _accompany_ you to Eterna City and take the test there."

"That sounds good. I really want to get going. Would she be allowed to use her pokémon, too?"

"Hm..." Cherri thinks. The rules really are quite nebulous, aren't they? Anyone can just catch a pokémon, or battle pokémon for fun, or just walk around. "I think ya only need a card to use Field Moves and battle really competitively. She should be fine for a short trek to the next city o'er."

"Okay!" He stands up and bows, sincerely nodding his head. "Thank you for the advice, Nurse Cherri!"

"Heh, no problem, kid."

So, and so, Lucy and Gohan meet up to plan their adventure.

**MT. CORONET**

**A sacred mountain that is capped the year round with snow. A gigantic maze sprawls inside it. There is an ancient ruin named the Spear Pillar located here, which is now known to be home to members of the legendary Creation Dragons.**

"This is the place... I was found?"

"Mhm," she nods. "Not _right here_, but, you know, on the mountains." Lucy pops open a Soda Pop: he has to wonder if that really is the name of the brand. Awfully uncreative. "We should pass through on Route 211... go through the mountain's caves... and then arrive at Eterna City from Route 208? Wait, no, just stay on Route 211."

"Mkay."

They deliberate in front of the entrance to the cave system. Pokémon as far as he can tell are no danger to him, but should he really be starting out right in what's basically the abode of the gods? Between the two of them they can probably do a 'Multi Battle' if they run into any insistent trainers: Cynthia said professionals frequent this area. Or, at least a Single Battle where both of them have pokémon involved.

"... Well, we won't get to Eterna City just standing around here, right? We should go in."

"Mkay."

Gohan sticks his head into the cave, peeking around. Doesn't seem too dark... some scattered rocks, boulders, other things you'd except to see in a cave. No pokémon so far – looks like the place has been pretty cleared out. Makes sense. People probably pass through here all the time between the town and the city.

"Lucy, Lucy! You can come in!"

"O-okay!" she responds. Quietish. But not _too_ quietish. Unlike most, her pokéballs are actually stored in her _pockets_, so she can't move too fast for fear of them falling out. She lacks Gohan's stylish backpack. "Cynthia told me that there were tons of zubat and golbat in here... you'll... you'll keep them away, right?"

"I don't know what those look like... uh, I'm guessing they look like bats?"

Before she can respond, the sound of clunking boots emanates throughout the cavern! She yelps before realizing oh, they're boots, it's probably a _person_. A face appears from the shadows – two, actually, one frowning and one significantly taller one smiling and holding a flashlight. They seem similar – it's hard to tell, but they look like they have pretty dark skin for Sinnoh. Foreigners? Maybe brothers? The older/taller one is definitely an Ace Trainer, at least. The smaller one has a pokémon poking out of his backpack. Looks like a monkey! A bright red monkey ("Pansear!"). Hm.

"Hey! What are you doing here?"

"Uh..." Gohan looks around. Uh. "Going to Eterna City? On the other side of the mountain...?"

"Huh. You a pokémon trainer too?"

"... Yes?" Oh no. He doesn't like where this is going. This is going to be a battle, isn't it? He literally just took his first steps outside of town. "I, uh, just got my Trainer Card?"

"Hm?" Oh no, there's that glint in his eye. The same one dad got whenever he saw a new enemy. And this guy _knows_ he knows. "I'll go easy on you on since you're only a rookie. But... once your eyes meet... " This guy... seems like a real jerk! "My name's Ken, by the way," he says. He nudges the one next to him, presumably his brother. "This guy is Alan. He isn't a Trainer."

**Ace Trainer Ken would like to battle!**

"Gohan... he's right. It's really rude to turn down a battle unless you _really_ are in a pickle."

He nods. He gets it. FINE. Literally like, ten seconds after leaving town. Well, I mean, this is part of the experience he signed up for, right? "Hey, you don't mind if we do a tag team sort of thing, right?"

"Huh? No, I don't care." he says. Ken smirks as he fingers a blue Poké Ball with red highlights and steps forwards. "You're gonna need all the help you can get.

**Ace Trainer Ken sent out Nuzleaf!**

**Tag Team Gohan and Lucy sent out...**** uh...**

Ken taps his foot as the two confer. His face betrays his impatience to get this ass-whooping underway. His nuzleaf's... crackling belies similar feelings.

**Yamper!**

"Yamp! Yap!"

"Daw, a Yamper? Never seen one of those before. It's pretty cute."

"R-really? You think so?" Lucy blurts out.

"No."

**The foe's Nuzleaf used Feint Attack! Yamper fainted!**

**The foe's Nuzleaf used Leaf Blade! Core-fish fainted!**

**The foe's Nuzleaf used Feint Attack! Chimecho fainted!**

"Is that all of them?" he says to the tap of his foot. Yeesh, besides Alan playing with his Pansear off to the side, it's doubtful anyone would want to... yeah, whatever, it's just part of the job. Probably doing this just for the XP (or a couple Poké, lord knows how giving away those in exchange for escort is customary). "Send out your last pokémon, pal."

"Tch!"

**Tag Team Gohan and Lucy sent out Sighduck!**

"Really? A psyduck? That's, like, the best you had left?"

Sighduck glares at the opposing trainer, and glares _harder_ at the smug stain of a nuzleaf before him. Grass and dark... this is a perfectly disadvantageous battle for him. It's immune to Confusion, and Aqua Tail and Surf wouldn't be very effective. Body Slam would be his only viable option...

If it wasn't for the mass difference in level.

**Sighduck used Aqua Tail!**

Nuzleaf was thrown clear across the room, smacked its head into a rock, and lost half it's HP.

"W-what?! What _level_ is that psyduck?!"

Gohan shrugs. "Dunno." The foe's nuzleaf growls, and claws its way up out of the dust ("Currucu!"). **The foe's Nuzleaf used Giga Drain! Nuzleaf's attack missed!**

And with a look of surprise on it's mug that Ken will never forget, Nuzleaf is smacked into the ground with a sopping-wet **Aqua Tail**. The dumbfounded Ace Trainer sticks the Great Ball out to return his partner, the red lightbeam illuminating and converting it into portable data.

"How... you... you didn't use Flash when I wasn't looking, did you...?"

Gohan nods. That's another move that exists, apparently. Maybe it's like Solar Flare?

"PSYYYYYYYYY!"

Ken grumbles, shrinking and pocketing the Great Ball as the other two watch the battle. Pansear swings around and lands in his owner's hair, while Lucy watches with interest. Can Gohan win his first battle? This psyduck...

"Luxray! Kick that thing's ass!"

**Luxray used Thunder Fang!**

**Sighduck fainted! This battle goes to... Ace Trainer Ken!**

...

Pansear sighs and scurries back into its pocket as Alan lifts off the rock. Ken grumbles as he returns the menacingly growling cat-thing. "All right kid, good show, now pay up and I'll escort you to the next town. After all... you two don't have any more pokémon to defend yourselves with, don't you?"

"Uh."

Lucy smirks.

"No thank you~."

Ken blinks. "Really, kid? I get that you probably don't have a lot of cash but giving up your last ten Poké is better than stumbling through the cave." His eyes narrow. "Do you really not want me to get my reward that much?"

What reward? You beat up a couple of kids. You really only did this for a few bucks? ... And if the paying up after a match is less customary for losing the match and more of a reward for safe escort...

"No, I think we'll just take our chances with the cave." And to Ken's _utter_ shock and disappointment (and to Alan's mild amusement) the two trundle forwards into the darkness. As they advance the light fades until they're all but invisible...

_"Are they suicidal or something?! I know I can be a bit of a jerk, but come on, I needed a couple of bucks for Repel! Is that really worth..."_

SPLAT!

His unasked question is answered by the what-was-probably-once-a-zubat staining the wall, the sudden impact causing him to jump. A quick glance later tells him... yeah, this thing is knocked out _cold_. Something... something...

_"I think we'll take our chances..."_

Something isn't right with that one. He gulps and grabs Alan's arm, hurrying out of the cave towards Celestic Town. He _may_ have just antagonized a grand foe. Thank god they don't _live_ here. ... Hopefully, he's never without a pokémon to use in battle.

* * *

**Mewtwo: the Genetic Pokémon**

**Class: Legend**

National Pokédex Number: 150

Ability: Pressure

Signature Move: Psystrike

Egg Group: Unknown, possibly Human-like or Fairy

Age: Decades or less

Captured by: Red, Wally

Created by: Cinnabar Labs; Blaine (suspected), Mr. Fuji (suspected), Bill (exonerated)

Type: Psychic

Height: 2.0 m

Weight: 122 kg

Known Fusions: Mewtrizard (with a charizard)

_Only one of its kind, a pokémon genetically engineered from the ancient Mew. Its origins are shrouded in mystery, and very few have seen it. Even the one who managed to capture it, Red, knows little – the most that has been deduced is it's origins in the former Cinnabar Lab. Due to incomplete DNA samples, even for modern technology, the gaps in its genes had to be filled in with human DNA: this makes it one of the few known hybrids between the animal and pokémon kingdoms. Its feral nature results from years of horrific experiments. It was likely traumatized by the process of being born – all known pokémon besides this one are hatched from eggs rather than born live. However, the discipline and focused tranquility under a Pokémon Trainer has managed to channel its fury well. _


	6. This gym is great! It's full of trees!

**ETERNA CITY**

**An old city that shows fading and almost-forgotten vestiges of ancient history.**

"So, uh, we'll stay here for a little bit... then we'll go up to Snowpoint City, okay?"

Gohan nods along absently as they stare at their new map. That Ken thing from yesterday still leaves a bad taste in his mouth... he really was a kind of bully... But did he really have to take out his frustration on wild pokémon, with his fists? Is he really that kind of person?

He thinks about this _important matter, be quiet Lucy_ a bit more. Gohan didn't really have a normal childhood. Never went to public school... lived in the wilderness with his martial artist dad up until he was four, and then it was... on and off super-powered battles for the fate of the universe. Not a lot of opportunities to learn healthy anger management skills. ... Damn, that's exactly what blew up during the Cell Games, isn't it? Is he going to lose a bad match to a jackass and reunlock that level of terrible power? Er, Super Saiyan Grade Five?

Despite his intellect, he really only ever learned how to apply it to his fists. Huh. His math homework never really got used during the fights for the fate of—

"GOHAN! HEY! EYES!"

"Gah!"

Oh, Lucy, sorry. He nods as she continues pointing at the map in her lap: "Eterna City and Snowpoint have gyms, so you can challenge those... you wanted to take on the Pokémon League Challenge, right?"

"Mhm."

"Okay, and then Snowpoint has a harbor... we can probably hitch a ride to another region... Maybe Johto, I think _Ethan_ lives there~..."

"Mhm."

"Is something the _matter_?" she snaps, hopping off the tree root she's sitting on and putting her hands on her hips. "You've been moping about ever since that Ken guy beat us. Can't you _move on_?! It was your first battle, of course you lost! He might have been a bit of a jerk, but he was just better than you! He! Won! That! Batt-"

"SHUT! UP!"

It's _her_ turn to cower. Good. Geez, she reminds him too much of his mother. ... "Lucy, uh, I..."

"N-no, it's fine. I should have... _shouldn't_ have yelled at you when you weren't feeling well." She bows her head in shame. "I'm sorry."

"... I'm sorry, too."

The two kids look at each other, and glance away. What now? His concerns about always solving his problems with violence... well, isn't that why he's on this journey in the first place? For him, that is: to strategize about something _other than his own punches_ (and maybe punish evildoers _pokémon-style)_. That shouldn't be pushed on her, though... uh...

"Hey, Gohan. You, er, want to get something to eat?"

"I have berries in my pack."

"Oh."

As the two make-up after their two-sentence fight, the pokémon look on. Just a few meters away they relax, because well, you can't heal during a Long Rest if you're trapped in a Poké Ball (right?). Plus, they get to know each other as their trainers plan for the future.

"YampyampyampyampyampyAMPYAMPYAMP! _Heya! Hey! Heya! I'm Yamper! Well, my momma called me Ciaraed but I don't think humans can say that. Can they? They can't hear me say it. What's your name? Oh, and this is Chimecho! Say hi Chimecho!_"

"Chim. _Mph._"

Corphish bows before the excitable Puppy Pokémon, awing it with its shiny carapace and 'mustache'. "Corrro corrphish. _It is about time we meet, my amigo. I am Corphish, and this is my petulant partner the Sighing Duck~._"

_"He spelt his name wrong,"_ the duck muses to himself. He'll find out eventually. Though, knowing Core-fish, he might not even realize what has changed even when it's pointed out to him. He might say it's the foreigner's way of spelling his name.

"Corrorophish, co. Corrrophish corerocorororororororororo? _Yamper, allow me to ask a question. I know my own motivations for signing up for this training business. But why is it, that you go along? I am a humble monster who has nary left his pond before. Or, for that matter, how Pokémon Training has become such an institution under the humans_?"

"Yamper! Yampyamp! _I dunno! I listen to Lucy because she's Lucy! She gives me food and pets me and–_" the electric corgi prattles on, praising it's master for positive traits she may or may definitely not have. It seems that despite being technically sapient, Yamper is not _that_ much more analytical, or critical, than an ordinary dog.

"Cor. _Fascinating. And what of you, sir Chimecho?_"

The Wind Chime Pokémon glances around, before looking at the corphish. "Chimecho. Chime ECHO._First of all, please call me Kirea. Just because the humans have an excuse to call me by my... 'label', doesn't mean you do. Second of all, I'M A LADY._"

"Cor. Corphish. _Oh! Well, you're certainly not a very pretty one._"

"PSY. _DUDE._" the duck looks up at her: "Psyduck psy psyduck- _I am so sorry for my acquaintance's INCONSIDERATE WORDS, please do not hold-_"

She waves a dismissive... tail-flap thing to his profuse apologies. "Chime. Ch-chimecho, echo echo._ It's fine. N-no, really, I can tell he's kind if not all there and didn't mean anything by it." _

"Corrrrrro! _Of course I am _all_ here!_" he shouts, puffing up his chitinous chest and showing off his glorious shininess (literal, not coloration-based). "Corphish corrororo! _There's more than enough Corphish to go around~."_

While Yamper cowers in awe at the magnificent display, the two psychic pokémon exchange knowing glances.

"Chimecho. Chimecho chocho echo echo chime chimecho. _Getting back to the topic, well, we 'pokémon'... I'm sorry, I'm still not really used to that term. I mean, we knew that something set creatures with abilities like ours (and speech) apart from the 'ordinary', but I didn't know it was such a fundamental gap. We just knew ourselves as us, and everthing else as either Respectable Other Beings or Food. __We fall into that same trapping as most other pokémon that I've seen – many of us love to fight, to test our abilities against each other. I guess that's one thing that unites pokémon.__"_

"Psyduck, psyduck psy. _That's okay: the battlelust,_ and _feeling weird about the word_._ That term is relatively recent, even as a human buzzword. Though I do think just saying 'monsters' would be cooler, I guess, it leaves out the possibility of using that term for anything _truly _supernatural_."

"Chimecho. Chime chimecho chime chimecho? Chime echo. Chimecho chime echo echo. _I see. I think. Anyways, the reason we let humans train us is... well, they're different. The role of being a trainer seems to suit them, you know? Most animals are wily, but stupid in ways that matter in a straight fight. They're more geared for generally scraping out a living than combat. And pokémon... well," _giving Core-fish and Yamper meaningful glances, " _tend to be not that smart either, at least not on a truly strategic level. Even psychics like us are able to admit that we're more made for raw computation than flexible thinking... the kind that, you know, you need to do when someone is coming at you with intent to KO."_

"Psy duck. Psyduck psy... duck duck psy duck. _Huh_,_ that's fairly thought-out. I'm sorry to say my experiences aren't much more deep than Yamper's... I just know things are the way they are, because they're the way they are."_

She nods. "Chimecho. Chime-chimecho chime, chimecho chime chime chimecho.. _Plus, any animal that managed to get as far as they did _without _having anything resembling our abilities is kind of impressive, isn't it? The world didn't work in their favor, so they broke its rules over their knees and made it work. With that 'technology' stuff._"

"Psy. Psyduck psy, psypsy duckpsy. _Ah. While we studied the art of combat, they studied the workings of reality itself. We pokémon... partially we respect them, and partially understand that they're just more suited to a sort of __analytical role in battle._"

"Chime. Chimecho. _Yes. It's nice of them to reduce competition to relatively harmless sport, too._"

"CORROPHISH COR COR CORPHISH?! _What are you two nerds blabbering on about?!_" Core-fish shouts, startling the two out of their discussion. They turn to look at him, petting a seemingly sleeping Yamper with one claw as he waves at them indignantly with the other. "Corrophish core co! Corphish corphish corphish! Cor? Corphish cor?!_ I follow Gohan because he can fly and breaks rocks with his bare hands! Other trainers can probably do that too, but less well because of course I would only have the best trainer in the world! Right? What are all these big words you keep using?!_"

Chimecho and Sighduck exchange another set of glances. Holy _crap_.

_"How long have you...?"_

_"A year. An entire year."_

_"And is there any chance...?"_

_"He will never get better."_

...

"OH-KAY!" she shouts, standing before the brown building. "This is the Eterna City gym!" She points at the sign just in front of it.

"Whoah. And people train here, all the time?"

"Mhm! You sure you don't want to just... join a gym, Gohan?"

"I don't know... training with other people would probably help us get better faster, but then it wouldn't really be an _adventure_, would it?" She nods, totally understanding. Seeing the world... that's where the good stuff is. This is too close to home to be exciting. "Besides, can you even challenge the gym if you're one of the leader's, uh, underlings?"

"I think so. Those badges are more marks of a trainer's merit than whether or not you 'beat the gym'. There are, er, _other_ ways to get permission to use Field Moves and challenge the League. Like, I heard that the Battle Frontier's symbols just got verified for the Ever Grande League."

"Battle Frontier?"

"I, uh, not really sure how to explain that one." She nods, as thought understanding something. What? What did you understand? "I'll tell you later. Okay?"

"Okay. So, do we just walk in...?"

"Mhm."

He shoves open the gym's door, and gazes into _is that a god damn forest_. Inside a gym. O_kay_, this place probably uses plant-type pokémon? That was one of them, wasn't it? Gohan takes a step inside, holding the door for Lucy as she follows him in. He lets her take the lead – and she does, stomping off into the forest. Her path reveals a guy, just sort of learning against a tree. A rather portly dude, tacky round sunglasses and a funky goatee.

"Hey, you! Gym Guide?"

The Gym Guide flashes a peace sign; "Yo, that's me," he says as he hoists himself into a standing position. "You here to join the gym? I'm no trainer, but I can tell you how to play well here."

"Actually, no, and no," she says, pointing to the Gohan following her. Once he arrives he waves sheepishly, causing a quizzical head tilt from the Guide. "He's the one we're here for, and, we're actually here to get a badge. Pokémon League stuff!"

He just looks over the kid. Nice tee, but no hat. No hat... not much potential. His grin seems awkwardly enthusiastic enough, something like that Ethan kid he saw on TV. Similar to Dawn, too, but isn't that the exception...? Weird raggedy purple pants and orange elf-shoes. Backpack? Yeah, he might be good enough to get pretty far. But he's no 'dex holder, that's for sure.

"Heh, all right, Champ-to-be," he says, turning on the charm. Gym Guide's gotta do what a Guide's gotta do. "The Gym Leader, Gardenia, is a user of Grass-type Pokémon. It sounds a bit obvious, but Grass-type Pokémon don't do too well against fire. They're also at a huge disadvantage against the Flying and Ice type, too."

Gohan nods. Makes sense, and lines up with what Cherri told him during his lesson.

"Anyways, while this gym is pretty easygoing as an actual gym, if you want to challenge the Gym Leader you going to have to go through every trainer in that day. It's a bit challenging, but just think of it as good training and go for it! And pack some Revives."

"Wait, the leader won't accept any challenges unless you go through the grinder first?!"

"Yep! That's just the way it is, she's a busy woman." The Gym Guide nods firmly. "What pokémon do you have, anyways?"

"I, uh, I got a core-fish and a sighduck?"

"... Champ-to-be, you know what type those are, right?"

"Water-type?"

Oh boy.

"And how many badges do you have so far on you're journey, kid?"

"... Uh... this'll be my first one!" Lucy gives two thumbs-up, flashing signs of encouragement for him! He can do it! The Gym Guide just blinks. Oh. Oh no. This is going to be a massacre. He sighs.

"Well, I hope your pokémon are _dang_ tough, kid. Gym Leaders ain't just you're average Trainer – they're basically your friendly neighborhood candidate for the Elite Four."

"I-I know."

"Well, good luck, kid."

Gohan shrugs. Well, this guy thinks he's at a clear disadvantage. ... He's probably right, they took no time to train before coming here. He glances at Lucy, who snorts. She seems confident. Hope she doesn't take their inevitable loss too hard... Ah, says the pot to the kettle. It'll be different this time, though...? At least he _hopes_ that an official Gym Leader wouldn't be a smug JERK. He walks past the Gym Guide, waving farewell as Lucy follows him into the forest. They barely make it past a couple trees before–

"Hey! What's the rush? Stop and smell the flowers before you battle Gardenia!"

"Uh..."

"Oh, and battle me first!"

**Aroma Lady Natalie would like to battle!**

The woman jumps out, and with a flourish holds out a Poké Ball! She seems friendly... but he can tell it's a bit of an act. A way to delay him, or possibly beat him off so as to not waste their leader's time. ... Well, turning down a challenge would be rude. Lucy? Yeah, she agrees. Them's the shakes. You gotta battle.

"Uh... go, Core-fish!"

"CORRRRRR!"

The lady raises an eyebrow as she lobs the Poké Ball. "Come on out, Puffy!" With a flash of white light a small... puffy-thing appears in front of Core-fish, raising its fists. Lucy gasps – it's adorable! Awwwww! She stands back, leaning against a tree as she whips out her Pokétch to take a picture. And record Gohan's first Gym Battle, obviously, maybe.

"So, how many pokémon do you have, challenger?"

He points back to Lucy. "Do hers count? We sometimes battle together." Natalie shakes her head.

"Oh, then, er, two."

"Pffft! You should have come a few weeks ago, then – Galactic Rocket would've made things easier for you~."

"Eh?"

"Puffy, use Pound!"

"Brace yourself, Core-fish!"

Gohan watches in bemusement as the puffball cries, jumps, and smacks itself into the ground before launching at his pokémon! Core-fish barely has time to blink before a glowing white hand smacks him across the face, causing him to stumble and lose parts of his HP...

"Use Knock-off!"

Core-fish rears up and shouts gloriously, only for Puffy to twirl out of the way. He twitches an eye as he throws another lowercase crabhammer – but Puffy counters him up the head with Pound!

"You know, challenger, you're lucky. Most people would say that bringing a Water-type into a Grass gym was not the best move, but my Puffy actually knows Flamethrower. If you were using a Bug or Flying type pokémon, you'd be down already."

That little thing can shoot _fire_? "Bubble Beam!" Worth a shot.

The igglybuff proceeds to be splattered with bubbles. Core-fish cackles under its breath as he stabilizes his footing, using the cover his own attack provides as a means to catch his breath. Despite her boasting, it's seems Puffy's level is actually about the same as Core-fish's – Bubble Beam is doing damage.

"Sing!"

**Core-fish avoided the attack!**

She curses under her breath as the manifested notes spew past Core-fish and slam into a tree, thereby not affecting him. Lucy grins, not seeing the utter confusion on Gohan's face. How can singing _miss_ someone? And what would it have even done?

"Core-fish, uh..." he looks around. Moves are definitely important, but can the environment be used to his advantage...? "Co–"

"Again!"

**Core-fish is fast asleep!**

Wait, aren't these turn based...? He must've taken to long! Damn! Now Core-fish is sleeping. And Puffy is pounding the crap out of him.

Pound!

Pound!

Flamethrower! Okay, ow, that's just being a jerk.

**Core-fish fainted!**

Gohan "Tch!"s as he returns Core-fish. He did pretty well, but not well enough to win... training after this, yep. "Go, Sighduck!"

The duck materializes in a flash of light, apathetically glaring at the opponent. "Psy?" It points a finger-analogue at Puffy, and says something which causes it to blanch.

"Puffy, use Sing!"

"C-confusion, Sighduck!"

Confusion hits first! Puffy was rearing up to let out another barrage of notes when the duck's eyes glowed pink, and Puffy found itself yeeted against a tree. Its eyes spin in its head as it wobbles back to its feet, spinning about.

**The foe's Puffy is confused!**

"W-what?! Your psyduck is that fast...?"

"PSYYYYYYY!"

**The foe's Puffy hurt itself in its confusion! The foe's Puffy fainted!**

Well, uh, well... huh. Must've been a critical hit. There's no way this kid's psyduck is that strong, right...? Not even perfect IVs would do that – the thing would have to be, like, level forty or something to oneshot her Puffy! Without a crit, that is.

Didn't he tell the Guide this was his first Gym...? He grins and congratulates the duck as she returns her pokémon. ... She should test what it can do.

"Go, Gloomy!"

"GLOOM."

"Gloomy!" she shouts, pointing a _dramatic_ finger at the foe. "Use–"

"CONFUSION!"

**Sighduck used Confusion! It's Super Effective! The foe's Gloomy fainted!**

"Uh."

"Woo!"

This isn't good. Her two other pokémon are a jigglypuff whose stats are actually slightly _lower_ than Puffy's were, and a vileplume. Another Grass-Poison type.

"Gohan, you can do it!" Lucy shouts form the side: her hands cupped around her mouth for extra projection. Come on girl, save the encouragement for the actual gym battle.

_"I should have bought Super Potions instead of Poké Dolls."_

**Sighduck used Confusion! The foe's JiggyWithIt fainted! **

**Sighduck used Confusion! It's Super Effective! The foe's Wile fainted!**

Natalie stares in disbelief. Her team swept by... a Water-type? "H-hey, kid, what level did you say your psyduck was?" she asks the celebrating duo.

"Huh?" Gohan looks around, before reaching for his Trainer Card. He fiddles around with it – it doesn't have a ton of stuff, but it shows him basic information on his party pokémon. Nickname, moves, gender, level, that sort of thing. "He's, uh, level... 53."

Her jaw drops – the girl with him seems surprised too, did she not know? Well, who would have guessed, he has no badges! ... Why is it listening to him in the first place? Has he proven himself in some other way...? Natalie gulps. Something isn't right about this kid. He isn't a 'dex holder, probably, but there's something else about him...

"W-well, er, congrats!" she says, returning the fainted vileplume. "Here's your... winnings." A few swipes on her Trainer Card, and Gohan looks at his. Oh. Oh! He is now the _proud owner_ of 238 Poké. She then scurries away, presumbly to the local Pokémon Center.

"Wow, you, uh, you did it," Lucy congratulates him. "How the _hell_ did you get a level 53 psyduck?!"

Said Sighduck crosses his arms and huffs as Gohan returns him; he's _right_ there.

"I... er, threw a Poké Ball at it. It was beating up Core-fish and it must've been caught by surprise?"

"Mph. If you can keep it a secret this gym would be no problem for you at all. You could probably walk right over Gardenia's 'going easy on you' team."

"You think so?"

"... Yes."

"Well, er, wanna go back to the Pokémon Center? Core-fish fainted."

"No, no, just keep going! I wanna see how far you get. Also," she grins as she reaches into her pocket, "you aren't the only one who remembered to pack."

"Whoah! ... What is that?"

"A Revive, you _dummy_. Gimme his Poké Ball." He gingerly hands over the Poké Ball containing his starter. She releases him onto the ground by just letting it drop – it opens on its own and flies back into her hand. "Uh," Lucy asks as she hands it back, "you mind giving it to him yourself?"

Gohan nods. He takes the Revive (is it like two candy corn stuck together? It feels weird in his fingers) and, after prying open his pokémon's mouth with two fingers, sticks it in.

Core-fish's eyes snap open as the _sweet succulent medicine_ dissolves in his mouth. He hops to his feet! A cry of triumph, ready for action!

"Corrrrrrro~!"

"There," Lucy says with a subdued smile. "He's up and about. ... Don't use him in the next fight, though."

"Why not?" he asks as he returns him again. "You think he'll just get knocked out again?"

"Well... yeah. Plus, Revives only let a pokémon gain back half their HP."

"What's HP, again?"

"It's, uh," she stumbles on her words. Huh. What _is_ HP? It's not quite like a person's vitality – you can beat a pokémon until your hands are bloody and it has a single point left but it won't show any actual signs of damage. Pokémon never take permanent damage until after their HP has run out, either... "I think it's like a sort of protection? Like, a sort of... energy-skin that keeps them from getting really hurt until they run out of it. ... It's why they can battle without, like, losing their legs and stuff."

"Huh! So sort of like what me and dad do when we fly through the stratosphere, but all the time!"

"... _What_?"

"Uh, nothing."

_"I... forgot that he could do things like that,"_ she thinks to herself as he turns around. He starts to walk forwards and push through the trees once again – she follows him. _"I remembered he was super strong and stuff, but I don't think I remembered he could _fly_. What other stuff can he do?!"_

* * *

**MissingNo: the Aberration Pokémon**

**Class: Demon**

National Pokédex Number: 0

Ability: Duplicate

Evolves from: Z-u

Egg Group: Unique

Transformations: Type-999 Mode

Age: Unknown

Captured by: Red

Type: Bird/Normal, Normal/999 (during its Type-999 transformation)

Height: 3.04 m

Weight: 10.02 kg

Known Fusions: Gijinka-000

_While many entries in this tome rely on data from professors or, in the worst of cases, hearsay, I'm proud to say that I actually had the opportunity for first-hand interaction with a MissingNo due to the goodwill of the battle legend Red. It was apparently found on Cinnabar Island in Kanto – Red suspects its origins may be connected to Mewtwo and the ditto. Despite its... unnerving, glitched-out visage, it's surprisingly easygoing. Due to this, and Red's cooperation, we've actually managed to determine a surprising amount of information about it. Terrifyingly, it appears to have unlimited reserves of HP, making the only way to defeat it in battle the usage of OHKO moves. True weaknesses of the unique Bird and 999 types are yet to be determined._

_In related news, Red almost broke the economy when MissingNo's Duplicate ability generated several dozen copies of a Master Ball. These have mostly been donated for research purposes. _


	7. Challenge for the Forest Badge!

"Pssst... I think she's gone."

Gohan sighs as he emerges from behind the tree, glancing around to verify Lucy's claim. After the first few battles, even his horrendously overleveled Sighduck started to feel the weight of several Super Effective hits. Oh, and poison. Lots of poison. Pokémon poison (Poison) doesn't hurt the normal way – it won't fry your brain or cause you to void yourself. But it eats away at a pokémon's HP reserves... slowly but surely... until they're ripe and unable to battle. While this is good for people, who both don't typically _have_ an HP Aura to be drained or need one to stay conscious, it does makes getting through this gym _hellish_.

Good thing Lucy came packing antidotes.

"You know, I think they might be getting bored. It took only a few seconds for her to decide I wasn't here and walk off."

"Really? I thought she seemed pretty intent stomping off looking for you."

"Okay, maybe _frustrated_ is a better word," he says. "But if I can reach the Gym Leader... uh, what was her name?"

"Gardenia?"

"That sounds about right. Um, if I can get to her, then the other's can't do anything once I challenge her! That's how it works, right?"

"I dunno... she might say something like 'NOT UNTIL YOU DEFEAT MY MINIONS, CHALLENGER!'"

"It's better than fighting through them before finding out I could've snuck past."

"True," she says, sticking her head past the corner and looking. "Good news, I think I can see her. We're almost at the other end of the gym."

"That's great!" Gohan grins – beating this Gym with only Sighduck and Core-fish would is gonna get them _so much EXP_. Core-fish has already gained... like, two levels. That's pretty impressive considering how often he's been knocked out. And Sighduck is like halfway to Lvl. 54.

"Okay Gohan, there's two Gym Trainers standing ahead of us. They're both facing perpendicular to our direction – probably to burst out and catch us as we approach Gardenia," she informs him as she turns around." Uh. Where is he? "Gohan?" ... _Gohan_?"

A rustling in the tree answers her.

"i'm in the treee"

"GOHAN HOW THE _HELL_ DID YOU GET UP THERE?!"

Gohan's response is cut off by the arrival of one of the Aroma Ladies. She looks around wildly, glaring at the one in visible view: "Oh, _not here_, is he?!"

"I... uh..."

The lady follows her gaze... and sees only rustling leaves. She blinks.

"Wait, he's going through...?!" She looks down at Lucy in renewed respect. "Well, er, that's certainly _one_ way to get past the members of the gym. How did he even..."

The two gym members approach, rushing through the brush – a boy and a girl. "Miss Jenna, did you beat him?!" she asks. "I knew the challenger couldn't get past all of us!" They grin – the boy turns to Lucy and gives semi-patronizing apologies. They falter when he notices her smirk. He falls silent when he notices Jenna's grim, yet somehow slightly amused expression.

"M-miss Jenna?"

Her finger answers them, as they turn to see Gohan drop out of a tree several meters away through the brush. Right between their previous posts. That they just left.

The two are mortified. Lucy cackles as Gohan rushes forwards, shielding his eyes from any potential eye-contact with gym members that might appear to challenge him. He only puts his arms down when he gets within a few feet of the Gym Leader atop her, uh, is that a patch of grass? A really tough green rug? The point is, he made it. There's a fence around the area, no, the _arena_. No Gym Members are rushing in here.

"Well, uh, hi there!" she says. As he looks at Gardenia, a smile starts to grow on his face. FINALLY, this is what we came here for! "I'm pretty surprised you got to me so quickly. That was, well, an interesting way of getting through the Gym. I wasn't waiting very long at all!"

"Oh, cool." Gardenia laughs under her breath at his under reaction. "So... I just battle you, and if I win, I get your merit badge?" Pft!

"Well, yes. Don't think it'll be easy, though!" she shouts as she whips out a Great Ball. "I heard about your super-duck~. I'm not gonna take it easy just cause its your first badge challenge with it!"

The Aroma Ladies, beauties, lasses and youngsters gather round. This gym's been in the thick of things recently, hasn't it? Dawn ascended to championhood only a year or two ago. Ethan quickly followed, and as a two-time Champion too! This doesn't look like a normal champion's story - he doesn't fit the narrative set up by aces like Cynthia and Alder, nor the more recent trend of 'pokedex wielding kid with rare pokémon coming out of bum-frick nowhere to become champion within a week'. But there is something about him, isn't there? No, not his admittedly inhumanly muscular form for an eleven-year old.

"Okay, then," he says. The two size each other up, walking to opposite ends of the 'arena' – Gardenia grins as she leans against a fence post. Gohan smiles back, a bit nervously.

_"This is a Gym Leader, huh? She seems surprisingly friendly. That's a nice change of pace, heh – even Mr. Piccolo was a little_ _abrasive when I first met him. I hope this is a fun match!"_

_"So... this kid somehow got a level fifty-something pokémon to listen to him without a single badge to his name. Wonder how? Is he just_ super _strong or something? Those are some muscles he's got. But they won't help him in a Gym Battle!_"

Simultaneously, they flip their Poké Balls out with an "I choose you!" from Gardenia and a "Uh, go!" from Gohan. The two pokémon appear in a flash of light! Core-fish, flexing and crowing and _holy SHIT is that a a bear?!_

**Sighduck was sent out!**

**The foe sent out Beartic!**

"Corrr...?"

"Uh..." Gohan scratches the back of his head as the bear postures, roaring its head off. The spectators cheer as Lucy doesn't cheer, because she's not part of the posse. "I thought you used Grass-types?"

"I do!" she says. "But the fusion mix-up was kind of a _thing_, and I got really attached to this guy!" Beartic grumbles in agreement. "I traded a perfect-IV cherrim to keep him after the fact, and it was totally worth it!"

"BEARTIC."

"I have to say, though, I really wasn't prepared for someone to bring a Water-type into my Gym," she says with a pouty frown. "I mean, it goes against even the most basic type knowledge. Which made it totally unexpected!" She grins again. "Caught us off guard, I think! If you can get past our normal attacks, our backup plans might fall flat!"

"Oh, uh, thanks!"

"But that's not going to save you!" she shouts, pointing a finger! Jabbing it, even! "Prepare for battle!"

**Leader Gardenia wants to battle!**

"Beartic, use Facade!"

With a mighty "GWOOOARH!" ringing throughout the air the Freezing Pokémon charges, a yellow aura rippling around it! Good thing the fat thing is slow. "Core-fish, run between its legs!" Core-fish does so – the mighty bear's fist slams down, missing it by a couple of inches at most. "Now, use Knock Off!"

The crustaceoid somehow _jumps_ and with a black sparking claw, smacks Beartic across the back of the head. The chunky pokémon stumbles, and something falls off – is that an old apple core? It grumbles at it straightens up, slowly turning towards Core-fish...

"G-Gohan!" Lucy shouts from the sidelines. "Those are Leftovers! They're weird, but they let pokémon heal over time DON'T LET THE THING PICK–" she's cut off. Right, literally everyone else here is supporting their leader. Her help is drowned out by the crowd.

**The foe's Beartic used Facade!**

The yellow sheen appears again, and Beartic lunges - and this time it manages to knock the corphish away. The pokémon rolls across the field of battle in a daze, uhd-uhd-uhding its brains out as it rolls up against a post.

"Dang! Core-fish, are you okay?!"

"Finish it off with Icicle Crash!"

"GWWAAAaAOOORAGH!"

The last thing Core-fish sees before blacking out is a disturbingly large icicle pop into existence just above it.

"Core-fish?"

"uhd..."

Beartic growls, crossing its arms as it stands over the fallen pokémon. Gardenia frowns.

"Ah, well. That was just the warm up anyways, right?"

Gohan silently nods as he returns Core-fish. He did good enough, probably. Those Leftovers he knocked off sounded like they would be useful.

He's going to need to be trained, though.

"Go, Sighduck!"

**Sighduck was sent out!**

This is a pickle, Gardenia thinks. Could she have prepared for this? Probably not, and she doesn't really need to; a few Grass-types should still be able to take it down and end the kid's run. But Beartic isn't going to wing this. Bulldoze isn't super effective, Icicle Crash is not very effective, Facade just won't do enough damage... and Sheer Cold doesn't work on any pokémon with a higher level than the user.

"GWOOOAAARARGH!"

With a wave of her hand she commands it to "Use Bulldoze!" The bear roars in response, stomping on the ground – ripples on the ground rush towards the duck, staggering it before it has a chance to move out of the way. It, him, her? Whatever, its a pokémon. In any case, while it doesn't look like it did much damage it had the intended effect.

**Sighduck's speed fell!**

"All right, Sighduck, use Surf!"

"PSY!"

**Sighduck used Surf!**

**The foe's Beartic fainted! Sighduck grew to Lvl. 54!**

Gardenia blinks as she returns Beartic - did it just level up? Dang, its a good thing pokémon can't evolve mid-battle. That might actually let him net the win.

"All right. Gardevoir!"

**The foe sent out Gardevoir!**

With a flash of light common to all pokémon releases, the creature materalizes on the field. With an uncomfortably seductive "Garrrrrrr~" it sizes up the duck in front of it. A staredown ensues – only to be broken with the first commands of attack!

"Sighduck, use Body Slam!"

"Gardevoir, use Thunderbolt!"

"BZZZZZT."

**Sighduck is Paralyzed! It may be unable to move!**

**Sighduck is Paralyzed! It can't move!**

"W-what?"

Gardevoir puts a hand to its mouth, laughing a noblewoman's cackle that reminds him a lot of Frieza. That bastard. Erika smiles more warmly, though she's still aggressive.

"I know you're a beginner, but I was serious when I said I wasn't going to go easy on you! Bulldoze lowered your pokémon's speed just enough for Gardevoir to attack first, and your psyduck should have lost a good amount of HP just now – _and_ it's paralyzed."

_"Paralyzed?! That can happen in pokémon battles...? Is he crippled for life? ... Wait, no, if being Poisoned isn't the same as being poisoned, then maybe the capital letter here means its different too."_

Surely enough, while Sighduck seems irate it doesn't look like someone who was just permanently crippled. An electric field ripples around him, causing him to twitch every few moments as his own aura seems to restrict his movement.

"Sighduck, use Aqua Tail?"

One blue-glowing whip later, Gardevoir is knocked onto its back, wondering how the hell that tiny duck just _knocked it to the floor_. It doesn't surprise anyone else, though. Gohan grits his teeth. Sighduck may still be very strong, but he's been reduced from a lightning bruiser to a mighty glacier. If they get enough hits in, this might not-

"Gardevoir, use Flash!"

"SIGHDUCKCLOSEYOUREYES!"

Sighduck closes his eyes. Gardevoir croons in confusion as Gardenia scratches her head.

"That's original. I know league rules forbid Struggling until after all your PP is used up, but I don't think that counts."

"Should... should we be talking in the middle of a battle?"

Gardenia shrugs as the two psychic pokémon square off. Sighduck with closed eyes. "Well, no?" She shrugs again. "It won't help me win. But that's not the point, is it? This is supposed to be sport. Sportsmanship!" She pumps a fist. "Fun!"

"Yeah, okay. I guess my old fights weren't exactly quick either."

"Hm?"

"Uh, Sighduck use Body Slam!"

**Sighduck used Body Slam!**

**The foe's Gardevoir fainted! **

"Your psyduck is really strong, even for its level," she says as she returns the downed Embrace Pokémon. "What are its IVs?"

"I don't know what those are."

"Ah... you really are a beginner with pokémon, huh?" Gohan shivers as she looks at him - _into_ him. Those are the eyes of someone who _knows stuff_. "Am I right? Is there something _about_ _you_?"

"No?"

"Mph." She's clearly not convinced, but brushes it aside for now. "Heheh, well, lets see if you can take down Cacnea!"

**The foe sent out Cacturne!**

As the cactine pokémon materializes the posse whoops into cheers! Lucy scowls as she looks at it - she's trying to finish the fight. This... is the perfect pokémon to take out Sighduck with.

"Sighduck, use Confusion!"

"Cacturne, use Leech Seed!"

**Sighduck is Paralyzed! It can't move!**

Gohan blinks in surprise as Sighduck flails, quacking in distress as the seeds hit him and immediately start sprouting. It frantically tries to pry them off but their vines pulse with stolen power: Sighduck only succeeds in hurting itself. Its aura flares again with Paralysis and causes it to twitch, forcibly ending its efforts.

"S-sighduck, stop!"

"Cacturne, Energy Ball!"

**The foe's Cacturne used Energy Ball!**

**It's Super Effective!**

**Leech Seed absorbed Sighduck's energy!**

Sighduck staggers - and Gohan gapes. Was that - was that a ki blast?! No, he couldn't sense it. It didn't feel right. Sighduck certainly felt it, though. It growls, a bit surprising for a duck. Platypus? Platyduck.

"Body Slam!"

With a flourish, Gardenia whips a hand towards her pokémon and commands it to use "Spiky Shield!" Sighduck slams right into the spiny energy field and collapses. An eighth of its HP total falls into the shadow realm. Even more is sucked out by Leech Seed.

Sighduck's vision flickers. Is _this_ what its like to lose a battle? Valuable learning experience indeed. He falls to one knee – not very used to being this low on HP.

"Psy... owwrdowwwrd owwrd..."

"Cacturne, finish it off with-!"

"BODY SLAM!"

**The foe's Cacturne is Paralyzed!**

**Leech Seed absorbed Sighduck's energy!**

It's Gardenia's turn to blink in surprise as Sighduck climbs to its feet. Cacturne has been batted into another one of the fence posts - its aura twitches with the same electric energy as Sighduck's. Body Slam can cause Paralysis? Huh. The two trainers lock eyes. Whoever gets the next strike... will win.

"Sighduck, Body Slam!"

"Cacturne, keep trying to use Energy Ball!"

**Sighduck is Paralyzed! It can't move! **

**The foe's Cacturne is Paralyzed! It can't move!**

**Leech Seed absorbed Sighduck's energy!**

"BODY SLAM! SIGH DUCK! You can do it!" Gohan shouts, throwing a pair of thumbs up. "I believe in you!"

**Sighduck is Paralyzed! it can't move!**

**The foe's Cacturne is Paralyzed! It can't move!**

**Leech Seed absorbed Sighduck's energy! Sighduck has fainted!**

...

**Leader Gardenia has won the battle!**

...

**Gohan lost the ****battle!**

...

Gohan looks on in shock. One hit. It would have taken _one more hit_. Cacturne would be down. That wretched plant monster standing... being returned... that _was_ standing before him would be down for the count.

He silently returns Sighduck as the posse around him erupts into cheers and starts to disperse. Shouts of "Yeah!" and "Totally expected, Gardenia!" are heard as they spread back out across the gym, probably intending to get back to normal gym activities. Lucy's the only one left behind, leaning onto a fence post with a frown. He lost.

"Hey."

A hand on his shoulder. Huh? Oh, it's Gardenia. What do you want? She holds out a hand. ... Oh, she just won a battle. Yeah, whatever, **Turned over 432 Poké to Leader Gardenia.** She smiles in a surprisingly subdued manner.

"You did really good, Gohan. It's really obvious you're a beginner – you have a long, _long_ way to go before you're ready to be really competetive with your pokémon battling. But you did really well for how much experience you have."

"Thanks."

"Hey, I'm being serious here!" she pouts. "Most people aren't really able to think outside the box - they even expect pokémon to escape attacks on their own, and almost limit their commands to just Moves. It's been a while since I've seen someone avoid the effects of one with something other than just dodging it or, well, using another Move."

"Really...?"

"You're really strong, aren't you?" she says. Blood rushes to his cheeks as he feels a poke on his chest. "Dang, you feel like you could take a Move or two yourself. ... You've been in real fights before, haven't you?"

"Um. Uh... yes, actually. I have – could I please not talk about them...?"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. But those are going to give you an edge." She smiles, and he can't help but smile back. "Trainers – you need more than theory, you know? Even experience in pokémon battling, at this point its all sport. All reduced to competitive theory. You know what it's like to have to think on the fly in an actual scrap. You can apply that here, and have all the time to learn theory! She looks smart," she says. Who? Oh, she's pointing to Lucy! His traveling companion sheepishly waves – she's part of the conversation now? "Hey! Teach him about type coverage - that'd be a good start!"

"U-uh, sure?"

Whatever, back to Gohan. Gardenia puts a hand on his shoulder and resumes the lecture: "Look, you really don't have to feel so down. At all. You can always come back, right? You might not have a pokédex or an super rare starter like the real privileged or lucky kids. You might even be thinking something like 'oh, one of my first pokémon is so strong! I never got the chance to learn how to fight for real!' You _know_ that's not true. If you just keep going you'll be forced to learn how eventually. And you already know how to think on your feet."

"Do I? I-I barely know how pokémon battles _work_. I only arrived in this world a few days ago and I–" he claps his hands over his mouth, eyes wide. Crap! Did he just– Lucy is wincing. He did. _SHIIIIIII_–

"I'm gonna ignore what you just said! I'm sure it'll get out eventually. Okay?" Dang, that's nice of her. I think? "You might not really get how pokémon battling works yet, but you'll learn. And when you adapt, your experience with thinking on your feet will help you _tremendously_. I can't wait to see what new things you bring to the table!"

"O-oh, thanks!"

"Mhm! Now, I hope you have a good memory, because there's a _lot_ of things you're going to need to learn about."

"Uh..."

"Type matchups, ability variations, entry hazards, same type attack bonus, status effects, _secondary_ status effects, held items, _useable_ items, status moves, league rules vs. legal rules, switchouts, power points, pledge moves, effort and individual values, move variations, priority moves..."

* * *

**Delta Species**

**Class: Phenomena**

_Delta Species, also known as Type Variations, are pokémon that appear to hold a typing atypical of their kind. The term has recently been expanded to include humans – a Delta Person is one noted to have unusual abilities. Most deltas, for reasons not yet known, have been found in the remote Holon region: it is currently believed that a delta's type uniquity is a property of the individual, rather than the population. They are more likely to be found near each other, though. Certain professors believe that they may provide insight into how typing can vary wildly between closely related species - and provide an answer to whether typing is more spiritual or physiological in nature. Their presence on the competitive scene has been minimal, but htey have been used as subversive presences – similar to how sudowoodo was used as a decoy Rock-type for quite a while before information on it was more widespread. _

Known Variances:

Bug/Water-type kabutops

Dark-type charmander

Dark-type meowth [kanto variant]

Dragon-type charizard

Electric-type magnezone

Electric-type tyranitar

Electric/Fighting-type machoke

Electric/Poison-type shuckle

Fighting-type Kingdra

Fighting-type human

Fighting/Fairy-type wigglytuff

Fighting/Ground-type excadrill

Fighting/Steel-type marowak

Fire-type gardevoir

Fire-type gyarados

Fire/Fairy-type delphox

Fire/Ice-type vulpix [alola subspecies]

Flying/Dragon-type aerodactyl

Ghost-type kangaskhan

Grass-type wooper

Grass/Steel crobat

Grass/Steel-type beedrill

Ground/Water-type stunfisk

Ice-type primarina

Normal-type ampharos

Normal-type clefairy

Normal/Ghost-type shuppet

Poison-type goomy

Poison/Ice-type crygonal

Poison/Steel-type pawniard

Psychic-type golduck

Psychic-type ninetails [both subspecies]

Psychic-type sceptile

Psychic/Bug-type ledian

Psychic/Steel-type noctowl

Rock-type klinklang

Rock/Ghost-type aerodactyl

Rock/Normal-type dodrio

Steel-type eevee

Steel-type pikachu

Water-type mew

Water-type salamence


	8. I'll Make a PokéMAN Out of You!

It's been a day or so since he failed to defeat Gardenia in battle. Lucy is off at the Pokémon Center – it's been about long enough, right? It'ser birthday! She's also drawing a _bit_ out of her funds to buy every Field Move they could ever need. Cut, Fly, Surf, Strength, Flash, Whirlpool, Waterfall, Rock Smash, Dive, Defog, Rock Climb, Cold Feet, Sweet Scent, Dig, Teleport, Secret Power, Headbutt, Chatter... well, maybe not _all_ of them. That'd be a lot of money.

But more importantly for us, it's also training day. And Gohan is going to train.

"Okay! ... Core-fish, are you listening? You need this more than he does."

Core-fish grumbles. "Corrrrrr~. _My trainer. I understand. You will train us. ... Can we do this later?_"

"I will take that as acknowledgement."

"Cor. _Hmph._"

_"Heh, it's almost like they can really understand what I'm saying. Pokémon are really smart creatures, huh? They might be even smarter than the monsters back home, even though they can't talk."_

He paces in front of the pond – the same one they camped out in front of just before they arrived in the city in the first place. Lucy isn't here, she's off at the Pokémon Center. Probably getting ready for her big day. Which is also her birthday. Gohan better have a gift ready.

"Anyways!" he says, continuing to pace. "I'm gonna be, uh, training you for the rest of the day. You will refer to me as Mr. Gohan! Got it?"

"Corrr!"

"Psy."

"Good! So, uh, I heard you guys can't hit other pokémon, right? Not without using a Move. Otherwise you take a lot of recoil. Right?"

The two nod. That's right.

"But there's still other parts of fighting that I can teach you! Like... pokémon can only learn up to four Moves at once, right? Something about computer data limits or something."

They nod again, though Core-fish doesn't know what to make of the last bit of the explanation. Computers? He's never seen a computer in his life. Why would he be affected by them?

"But you can do stuff in battle without moves! And not just dodging. Though you guys might want to work on that too."

Sighduck grunts approvingly. This is probably why most Pokémon Trainers don't get too far. Even once they understand the basic mechanics of pokémon battling they... well, they see it as a game with it's own rules, divorced from real fights. Or see their own pokémon as extensions of themselves rather than fighters that they are _training_. There's more to real fights than Moves and grinding for stats.

"Core-fish, you'll be my punching guy. Sighduck, you, uh, ranged attacks." With a bang that makes both pokémon jump he slams a sudden boulder onto the ground in front of them. Gah! "Core-fish, smash this boulder. That should be a good start." Wait, isn't it illegal to use most Moves outside of battle? ... Huh, that must be why a lot of pokémon don't get a lot of training in.

"Corrrro? _Mr. __Gohan...? I don't know Rock Smash. I also believe, that this may be illegal._"

"Like this."

In the blink of an eye the boulder is reduced to pebbles and dust. Where it once stood is Gohan's fist. He punched it. And it exploded.

"Corrrrrrrrr. _Ah, yes, I see now! We need not use Moves - we just need to hit it really, _really _hard!_"

"Psyduck. _If you try that you will break your claws._"

As the two pokémon discuss this, Gohan thinks. How can he apply traditional fighting elements to pokémon battles? Proper punching form? ... Might be useful, if they ever have to fight a non-pokémon. Maybe it'll increase the rate of critical hits? Hm. Bracing to take hits better, or rolling with punches? Might not be too useful – that might not affect how much HP is lost at all, since that's aura-based. Dodging on their own initiative? ... That'd be _really_ useful. Most people apparently just train their pokémon to stand still and fire off Moves. A more jittery dodging pokémon might trip them up.

Oh, and simulating other moves! Maybe they can't fit in Sand Attack, but it might be worth teaching them to just... throw dirt in the enemy's face. And link that to the Sand Attack command, even if they can't use the Move itself.

... Would his ki-based techniques be teachable? Agh, that would be a lot easier to ask if he could _understand_ what his students... er, pokémon can say.

"Duckduckpsy! _I don't CARE how much protein is in Whiscash corpses, your Attack stat won't bleed over into mundane strength-!_"

"AHEM."

The two freeze. Gohan grunts and points to a spot a few meters away, looking at Sighduck. He gets the message and shuffles away, leaving Core-fish alone.

"Okay, Core-fish, I'mma teach you how to punch." He raises a hand and Core-fish imitates him with a claw. Gohan then closes his fingers into a fist; his thumb is wrapped around the outside. Core-fish tries and fails to imitate. "... Huh. You're body really isn't shaped for this, huh?" He smacks his chest. "All right, uh, use Double Hit!"

"Corr! _Would that DO anything, Mr. Gohan?_"

"Uh... oh, right, that's probably illegal too. Hm. Uh, we'll get back to you..." he mumbles. Gohan picks up Core-fish and waddles over to Sighduck to switch out his pokémon. He stops short of actually doing so, though – it'd be better to train them at the same time, wouldn't it?

"So, there's a couple kinds of punches, okay?" he says as the two watch with interest. "There's, uh... jabs," he says with a quick demonstration. The air whistles as his hand cuts through it. Wait, was that it? JESUS that was fast.

He continues. "Crosses, which are just jabs but with the other hand. Uh, hammer fists where you just slam the hand down." Demonstrating on the ground, there's a blur for a split second. It results in a crater in the dirt. "... Hey, Core-fish, can you come over here?"

"Corrroro- _Of course, me master-"_

"DODGE!"

*smack!*

...

Long story short, within about an hour both pokémon are able to punch relatively well. It's especially surprising with Core-fish, considering he can't actually make a fist or thrust his hands forwards in any meaningful capacity - but there's progress.

"Okay! Punch! Block! Punch!"

"PSY! DUCK! PSY!"

"COR! PHISH! COR!"

Gohan nods, proudly looking over his two disciples. It's been a hard... fifteen minutes, but they seem to have the basics down. Core-fish has, against all odds, managed to punch in a straight line. Meanwhile, Sighduck has mastered the proper punch - thumb-analogue wrapped around the outside of the hand and all. The basics of blocking has been taught as well – and dodging, of course.

_"Core-fish, if you can dodge a rock! You can dodge a Rock-type attack! And other attacks, too, I think!"_

He giggles to himself, even as he keeps throwing air punches for his pokémon to imitate. Dad never really _taught_ him a lot of basic fighting, did he? He sparred with him... and learned ki-specific techniques from him... but the fundamental stuff? That was all Mr. Piccolo.

"Dodge!"

Core-fish and Sighduck throw themselves to the floor! After the first few hits, uh, they know _damn_ well not to get hit by this. Just in time, too. Two pebbles whiz through the air, cracking the sound barrier as they crack! They then cut a disturbingly deep gouge in the ground before being reduced to dust.

"Corerorrrr... _Is it safe to come up yet?_"

"Psy. _Yes._"

Sighduck climbs to his feet, and shudders at the sight of the gouges. The first hit five minutes ago... no way in _hell_ is he letting himself feel that, ever, again. Not after the, er, first seven times. He's just fuzzy!

Core-fish takes a few seconds longer. Each time. _Each time_ he was hit he was knocked out instantly. Just like when he was kicked into that rock face a few days ago. But this hurt more. SO MUCH MORE. Dodging is _really_ important.

Clapping rings out. "Okay guys! You did it! Good dodge!"

"Psy. _... Thanks._"

"Core-fish, return!"

Sighduck raises a non-eyebrow in surprise. What's this? ... Oh. Gohan is sitting in front of him, crosslegged.

"... Hey, uh, Sighduck. You're really strong for a pokémonster, huh?"

Sighduck doesn't say anything. Why should he? It's not like Gohan can understand him.

"I kind of want to know where you came from. Why the nurse... uh, Cherri? Why she said it was weird of you to know Surf. But I guess even if you wanted to tell me, you couldn't. Huh?"

_"...That's right."_

"Heh, I'm not even sure how smart you are," he mutters to himself. "Maybe you aren't much smarter than a wild dinosaur or dragon." Sighduck grunts at the accusation, but accepts that humans at large have no way of telling how conscious pokémon really are. "But you're going to be my Special Attacker, right?"

"Psy...? Psy duck... PSY. Duck?! _Right...? Where are you... OH. You can use Special Attacks?!_"

The look on his face is apparently extreme enough to be recognizable. "Heheh... I'll show you later, okay? I don't think I should do stuff like that this close to the city." His eyes drift to the invisible border which wild pokémon dare not cross - filled with normal humans. _Native_ humans, for whom ki power is not even the stuff of urban legend.

"Psy. _..._ Psyduck. _You are an abomination. ... I'm glad I'm on your side._"

Gohan grins.

"Heheh, still can't understand you." Sighduck lives up to his name and sighs as he disappears into the red light – he's being returned. "Now... I should catch another pokémon. One that uses that 'aura' stuff... just in case Sighduck can't learn to shoot lasers."

He turns around, placing the pokéball into the pocket of his backpack - and frowns. He really doesn't have much in here. A few Poké, like three unused Poké Balls, and some berries he found on a bush. Are they even edible? ... Of course they are. As he pops one into his mouth he thinks. What should his plan of attack be...? Lucy is busy today getting her Trainer License and all so he can't ask her. And he can't actually talk with his two companions...

Well, dad was never able to really think on an empty stomach, he thinks as he pops another berry into his mouth. Maybe it's the same with him? He's never been away from home this long. His eyes drift towards the pond in front of him – and his stomach gurgles.

...

"All right, guys! Eat up!"

Core-fish looks up at Gohan in awe, while Sighduck looks up in equivalent horror. How... what... _by Dialga's steely __glutes_. Is that legal?!

Gohan nudges the smoking corpse of the _gyarados_, and tears of a hunk of meat to devour. "Mgmgmgotnotossttnoerngthup!" he mumbles. Core-fish quickly follows, grateful for this opportunity. Mmm, delicacy! "I caught it after I went into the pond. I think I killed it when it tried to eat me, and I thought it would taste like Paozu tuna!"

"Psy?! _Aren't... aren't humans normally _against_ eating pokémon? At least ones... that they saw themselves?_" He glances away from the body - breed in captivity and raised on feed, even when he was wild he ate almost nothing but berries and bugs. Non-pokémon bugs.

"Corrorrororororo. _Bah, the pokémon center sells pidgy burgers! And gyarados are _way_ less likeable than pidgey._"

"Mgblb?" Gohan asks, before swallowing what he has in his mouth. He doesn't seem to quite realize what he's done – it _is_ a bit harder to empathize with sapients when they can't actually communicate with you. And tried to laser you the instant you appeared. "You aren't hungry, Sighduck? ... Oh, you must eat, uh, bread! ... I don't have any bread."

Sighduck grumbles and takes a sliver of gyarados meat, much to Core-fish's satisfaction and his own anxiousness. Ugh. Unbeknowst to him, saiyans were already known to eat other sapients... and in this world, unless you're a _vegan_ (and even then) you're going to taste sapient eventually.

Pidgeotto eat exeggcute, and muk eat garbodor.

Furret eat rattata.

Wailord eat wishiwashi, and sableye hunt carbine.

Native humans eat magikarp and slowpoke tails.

Even tirtouga and carracosta hunted omastar, eons ago.

And saiyans ate everything they could get their Kai-damned hands on. Sapient or not.

The other fish pokémon in the pond watch the meal cautiously, keeping particular watch on the human that took down one of their elders in two blows. But there is no offense here – it's a sapient eat sapient world. And while human society may not _quite_ grasp how equal pokémon really are, the pokémon know.

They just don't care anymore - at least, when it doesn't directly affect them or the individuals they know. It's been millions of years. They have to eat, they aren't all herbivores. Where else would they get Protein? Iron? Calcium? From their environment? From the nearly extinct _animals_?

_"I really don't like this," _he grumbles as the other two happily chow down. _"How is Gohan taking this so casually? He just... he just killed a person. ... No, he killed a_ pokémon."

Inequality is real, bros.

"Do you really not like it, Sighduck?" ... Oh, he seems a little concerned. But it's... wait, humans communicate non-verbally too. He shakes his head. "Aw, that's too... wait, you really can understand me, huh? It's not just instinct or something?"

He nods. Core-fish tilts his head, not quite understanding what he's doing and ignoring it in favor of eating more gyarados.

A chill runs down Gohan's spine. Wait, Sighduck is fully sapient? Like... a _person_? Does that mean all the other pokémon... _all_ pokémon... he glances at Core-fish, still happily munching away at the great serpent's flesh.

_"Did I just..."_

* * *

Gohan walks through the Capsule Corp compound. A few years ago he would have had trouble making it into the place, much less freely wandering around, but his family's reconnection with Bulma and company has made him a familiar enough sight. After only a few minutes of searching the very person he wanted... well, wanted is a bit of strong word, but the one he _came_ to see is spotted by their very own gravity chamber.

"Um, hello, Vegeta? D-do you have some time, today?"

"What is it, brat?!" The look on Gohan's face makes him mentally backpedal a bit, however. Despite his father's... _annoying_ qualities, the child is still saiyan. And, if he is to be honest with himself, a _monumentally_ strong one for his age. Worthy of at least a molecule of respect. "Make it quick - I have some androids to train for," he barks before crossing his arms.

Gohan quickly bows – the purple-haired warrior appeared to warn them only a few weeks ago. As you may have guessed, this is a flashback. "W-well, I came because... I wanted to know more about my heritage." At Vegeta's raised eyebrow and smirk, he quickly adds that "I don't approve of what you guys did. But... I think I should know."

"Well, well, _well,_ you want to know about the saiyans?" The Prince of all Saiyans grins. "It's good to know that _one of you_ has some_thing_ resembling _pride_." He turns around, snapping his fingers. "Come, boy. I'm in a generous mood." Gohan mutely follows. Ever since Namek, Vegeta had been ostensibly one of their allies. In practice, however, he has been just as much of a sociopathic jackass as ever.

He follows him into the gravity chamber - Vegeta's most private spot on the planet, since no one else was suicidal enough to step foot into it. Once the door closes behind them he turns back to Gohan.

The ensuing discussion was very enlightening. A strange mix of fascination and _horror_ grew in his stomach, as he learned about his alien side of the family...

_"What was planet Vegeta _like? _The animals, the plants, the air..."_

_"Barren. Almost a desert. Your planet may be worthless from a monetary point of view, but I must admit that it IS easy on the eyes."_

_"Do you know anything about saiyan evolution? How did we end up so close to humanity?"_

_"Hmph! Do you really expect me to know anything about that? I'm an elite warrior, not some scholar! ... Though, I do know that planet Vegeta was _not_ our original homeworld."_

_"What number system did you use? Was it base 10 like it is here on Earth?"_

_"What the hell are you talking about?!"_

_"Will... will my tail ever grow back?"_

_"Give it a few years. You shouldn't lose it permanently until you pass adolescence."_

There was a lot of interesting information there, to be sure. So different, and yet... so similar to humanity. All aliens are, honestly - must be part of the deal in a universe ruled by mostly humanoid deities.

But.

_"What did saiyans eat?"_

_"Whatever we could get our hands on besides each other, boy. Actually, perhaps even that exception was not absolute. ... I see that look in your eye, boy. What, you going to criticize us? We slaughtered worlds. Filling our bellies afterwards wouldn't have made them any more dead."_

* * *

**Dart Frog: the Deathtouch Animal**

**Class: Animal**

Ability: Deathtouch

Develops from: tadpole

Species Group: amphibian

Type: Poison

Length: 1.5 cm

Weight: 28.3 g

_Believed to be an urban legend for decades, the first living dart frog was found in a remote area of the exotic Mistia region. It is thought that their survival in the wild is due to the absurd deadliness of their poison - despite being resistant to chemical toxins, pokémon are thought to have been intelligent enough to quickly learn that it is simply safer to leave the brightly colored animals alone. As a consequence, where they do exist, they thrive in dense throngs. The name derives from an urban legend that Mistian natives would rub their skins against the tips of weapons, making them exceedingly lethal. Their poison is powerful enough to down an indian elephant, and in rare cases, able to disseminate into a pokémon's aura like Poison._


	9. Aura and Ki: A Degree of Separation

"And THAT, you guys, is a–!" Wait, should we use translated names for the attacks? ... Well, if we're already calling all the people from this world by their names from the English versions of the games... maybe if it was in Unova, it'd be reversed? But it's called the Kamehameha, even in the dubs. Hm. "Super Kamehameha!" he proudly declares. The duck watches in awed horror, jaw dropping, as Core-fish claps furiously.

"Corr! CORRR! _Magnifico! DIVINE!_"

Sighduck stares. The raw power in that attack... it took about as long to pull off as a Solar Beam, but it was orders of magnitude more terrifying. He'd be surprised if the people back in Eterna City didn't notice.

The party's moved a bit further away from the city - on to the peak of Mt. Coronet actually, now that Lucy isn't here to slow them down. In the background wild pokémon watch in rapt fascination and horror. The native golbat, machoke, nosepass, snover, and others are careful not to be spotted by the Trainer. His presence was a bit confusing at first - only two pokémon? In a place like this?

_"MAAAAACHOKE! _Eat this, whelp_!"_

_"Hiyagh!"_

_*cRACK*_

OH. Yeah, probably best not to get his attention. And once he started firing lasers... Well, uh, screw that.

"Okay, guys! Now you try again!"

The platypus pokémon raises an eyebrow. Now that Gohan has... fully realized their sapience, he's been using more and more complex terms to explain things. That doesn't change the fact that Sighduck has no idea how to use aura in any way, let alone that 'ki' stuff.

"COR! _Super Special Plus Ultra Death Laser Claw Beam Attack!_"

Gohan frowns at the poor attempt, claws flailing. Core-fish's form is getting better, but the results definitely aren't. The most that happens is... nothing. The ruffian fires a Bubble Beam a second later, and proudly decides that it resulted from his stance.

"PsypsypsypsyPSY! _Kamehameha!_"

**Sighduck used Psybeam!**

Sighduck has made more progress... but that's not exactly the kind he really wanted. Checking his Trainer Card... er, well, at least he applied some of the technique, but he doesn't seem to have made any real progress with out and out ki- er, aura manipulation.

Aaaand the duck lost Confusion in the process. At least Psybeam seems to be a good replacement. He sighs, slipping the digital card back into his backpack as the two continue to... well, _try_ to replicate his technique. You know, Roshi did say it took him fifty years to learn how to do the Kamehameha...

"Okay guys, uh, I think we're done here." He claps. "Good training."

"Cor! _Ah, yes, I have passed this test!_"

"PSY DUCK. _Thank the Great Old Ones, my god, I'm down to a single PP..._"

Gohan then starts to hike down the mountain. The two pokémon under his command waddle behind him, bickering on whether that was a useful use of time. Core-fish doesn't think so – while he's glad he 'impressed' Gohan, he also doesn't think they got anything important out of that 'dance routine'. Sighduck thinks that while they haven't shown any ability to manipulate aura yet, the form shown is good for getting one's juices flowing and all that jazz.

The wild pokémon watch them go. When they pass below the horizon of what they can see, they finally start to emerge, warily eyeing each other – but united in the face of a new alpha species.

"Clef... _And I thought a human exploring the moon was a bit unnerving..._"

"Absol. Ab absol. _I don't know. He's strong, but doesn't seem particularly dangerous._"

"NOSEPASS! NoseeeeeePASS? _First they order around the gods! Now they start shooting lasers! They really are fighting hard to keep up appearances, aren't they? The top spot and all._"

"Clefaaaairy~. _Please, as if their hives would function without us youkai letting them. That's probably just a one-off freak._"

"Luuuuunnatone... Luna. Luna. _I have seen the four corners of the universe... and never have I been beholden to such a terrifying display of power. That was... unnatural._"

...

Ah, the Eterna City Pokémon Center! A beacon of hope for all trainers whose pokémon have been beaten into unconsciousness - and the place where Lucy and resident trainers-in-waiting are going through their short education.

Gohan, backpack full of harvested berries and a cool rock he found, walks up to the counter. "U-um, hello!"

"Hello, welcome to the Pokémon Center!" the nurse says with a curtsy. "What can I do for you today?"

"Can you heal my pokémon...?" he asks as he sets his two Poké Balls onto the counter. She nods, smiling as she takes them and places them into the machine besides her. For two seconds.

"All done!" she chirps, handing them back.

"Buh?"

"Oh, is this your first time?" ... "License, please?"

He wordlessly shows her his Trainer Card; she nods and accepts it, yeah, he must just be new. "Do you need anything else?"

"Um..." Huh. What does he need? "Is... is there any way for me to find specific pokémon? Kind of easily?"

That's a surprising question. She thinks, putting a hand to her chin as she ponders this question. 'Kind' of easily? Well, the easiest way would be to trade, right? But nobody's here. Oh!

"Well, the upstairs room is occupied with a lesson today, but you can use that PC," she points out. "It's hooked up to the new Global Trade System. I'm sure you can find just the pokémon for you!"

He bows ("Thank you miss!"), causing her to giggle. "Ah, you're very polite!" She waves as he meanders over to the PC...

* * *

GOHAN booted up the PC. Which PC should be accessed?

/GOHAN's PC

Accessed GOHAN's PC. What do you want to do?

/Turn Off

Which PC should be accessed?

/Global Trade Link

/Pokémon Listings

/...

/Aura

/Advanced Search

/Max Price - 1200 Poké

/Search

/Max Price - 5000 Poké

/Search

/'aura using pokémon'

/Search

* * *

"... Hey, uh, nurse?"

"Hm? Yes?"

"How do I... uh, find aura pokémon?"

"Aura pokémon?" she asks. "I don't know... well, did you try searching for any specific species?"

"But I don't know which ones can do aura stuff."

"Hm. I know lucario can use aura... but those are really quite rare. Will you be able to afford one?"

"... No, I don't think so," he sighs. That book Cynthia had listed a good number of them, didn't it? She probably knows. "Ah, do you have a phone?"

The nurse blinks. A phone...? Ah, oh! She had almost forgotten about those... they were a bit of a failed experiment a few decades ago. The plan really did sound clever, but the towers that would allow the signals to be transferred were simply too hard to guard from hordes of hungry Electric-type Pokémon, and for the similar reasons any landlines wouldn't stay in one piece far outside big cities. It's only with recent space technology that a derivative idea, the PokéGear, has been taking off.

"You can borrow my Pokétch if you'd like, but I don't know if I have the right number." Yes, that's right, the Pokétch Company had recently been bought out by Silph. That might honestly give them the final leg up they needed on Devon.

"Ah, that's all right!"

* * *

孫 悟飯 活性化 その ポケッチ。 どっち アプリ すべき なる 開いた？

/**ポケモンリスト**

**ラッキー** (100%)

**ハピナス** (100%)

/戻る

* * *

"... Miss? I can't read this."

"Huh? Oh, I'm so sorry! You didn't look like a foreigner," she says as she takes the watch back for a few seconds. As she fiddles with it, she fills him in: "Are you from somewhere in Unova? I heard that lot of the younger people there don't even know that Unown wasn't always universal. I grew up in the country, so I guess I'm just more comfortable reading in the old language." She hands it back – this time with the writing legible to him. Scratching her head, she goes on: Heh, I think even the pokémon have been adapting. "It's been quite a while since I've seen any in Sinnoh use their old cries."

He considers this as he clicks back through the Pokétch. ... He couldn't read the symbols, but they did seem familiar, didn't they? Maybe the same language existed back on his Earth... in a version that wasn't dubbed into English.

"What sort of pokémon are around where you're from?"

"Ah, actually, we don't have any," he says as he finds the app he presumes calls people. She looks a bit surprised.

"None at all?! That's a bit strange. Are you around Orre?"

"I guess?"

She purses her lips as he turns back to the watch. He must be from even deeper in the boonies than she was.

* * *

GOHAN booted up the Pokétch. Which app should be accessed?

/Call

Whom do you want to call?

Angela

Caroline

Cherri

Copper

Ezekiel

Gardenia

Jenna

Lindsay

Lloyd

Looker

Oleander

Roxy

Satoshi

Yvette

/Cherri

...

RING RING...

* * *

["Ey, Trishaaaaaaa... been a while."]

Gohan raises an eyebrow simultaneously with the nurse behind the counter.

"Hey, uh, it's actually me! Gohan! Uh, heeey..."

[Eh? You again, kid? ... How'd you get ahold of Trish's Pokétch? You steal it from 'er?"]

"W-what, no! I asked if I could borrow a phone..."

["Tch. Coulda gotten a free Pokétch."]

"..."

["Whaddidya need, kid? I'm a little busy... uh... watching _The Diary of a Poké Romantic_."]

"O-oh, um, all right. Do you think you can put Cynthia on? If she's there, I mean."

["Sure. I'll just call her and give the number of yer phone. Pokétch. Whatever."]

"Thanks?"

["Don't mention it, kid."]

... ...

_"Christ, the kid's going right after Cynthia? ... Oh my god, this is the kid that came into town with her little sister. AH."_ The nurse gulps, but it gives way to a smile. This kid must be something - but something _good_, if he really is in the champion's good graces. "Sooooo... how was she?"

"Huh?" he asks, turning back to look at the nurse (Trisha?) as the phone pings with a notification. "How did you... oh, it must've been easy to overhear, heh?"

"Easy enough, I guess," she said with a shrug. "I heard her introduction loud and clear. What did you need from her?"

"I actually needed to talk to someone else?"

RING RING...

"Oh!" he says, glancing at the device. The words 'UNKNOWN NUMBER' are displayed loud and clear on the monocular monitor. "I have to take this! Sorry!"

...

"Hey!"

["Hello? Gohan, is that you? Cherri told me you needed to talk to me?"]

"Mhm, uh... I'm sorry if you're busy, but, uh–"

["No, no, it's fine! Really! I was just eating lunch. What do you need?"

"Do you remember those pokémon... the ones that your book listed as being able to use aura stuff? I kind of wanted to try some things out."

["Ah. Trying to figure out if you can apply your _ki_ stuff to pokémon battling?"

"Yeah, actually."

["Hm. The clauncher, mienfoo, riolu, squirtle, and togepi lines are all able to learn Aura Sphere. Those might be a good start."]

"Mhm, mhm, which one would be the best choice for me?"

["Weeeell... clauncher, riolu, and mienfoo are from nowhere near here. Togepi and squirtle would be better choices... actually, maybe just squirrel. They're quite rare in the wild, but they've been domesticated for a long time. Finding a seller shouldn't be too hard or expensive, if you don't make it too much of a point to pick out one with outstanding potential for battle."]

"Sqwertle, huh?" he says. It feels weird thinking of a pokémon as 'domesticated', especially after the fact that... you know, they're _people_. But pokémon eat each other. Man, this place is brutal. "I'll see if I can find one. And I'll share everything I find out with you!"

["Thank you! Hear from you some time later, Gohan."]

* * *

**Introduction: What Makes a Monster?**

In order to explain what makes something truly an unknown monster, we have to go over something you may have thought yourself familiar with: what makes a pokémon. Many a mysterious demon or youkai has been reported, only for it to be revealed to be a newly discovered pokémon (such as voltorb), or even a mundane one. This book makes great distinction between different types of cryptids – artificial beings, pokémon, animals, and truly unknown monsters. While the only qualification for a _cryptid_ is that it is a creature has been claimed to exist withought having been conclusively proven to, it is still useful to attempt to classify such between taxons, or add them to something else entirely.

In the past pokémon have been regarded as mythical or supernatural, but with recent advances in technology they are slowly becoming accepted as another mundane, if extremely hard to figure out, part of life. They've even finally been granted their own kingdom – Electrobelia. The exact origins of pokémon life are unknown, though we _believe_ them to be derived from a common ancestor with animals and fungi. This is due to their uncanny ability to mimic other walks of life – a great variety of other organisms have had their body plans imitated by at least a few species of pokémon, and the recently proven fact that animals and pokémon are relatively compatible on a biochemical and genetic level.

But what _defines_ a pokémon? Firstly, their sheer commonality - similar to Plantae's dominance over most of Fungi, pokémon run circles around animals almost wherever they are both found. Animals are typically seen as the scrappy survivalists, but it is rare for a species to hold a significant advantage over any pokémon in one-on-one combat. Even the lowly magikarp can easily fend off animal would-be-predators. This is likely due to their defining physical property – intense _aura_.

All living creatures have an aura field. That which is commonly referred to as pokémon typing is simply the attributes of such – it can vary by individual, but its properties are predominantly fixed by species or subspecies. Pokémon's dominance lies in how their aura is far more robust than any other known life-form, even allowing the weakest to shrug off immense damage without so much as a scratch until it is depleted (An interesting note: aura force cannot persist without a medium to support it. That is, no external aura manipulation abilities have been observed to work in vacuum).

The leading theory is that their aura is sparked by their relative genius compared to most animals, though it could be the other way around – evidence for this theory include how humans and other notably intelligent animals such as rodents, pigs, and parrots have demonstrated slight usage of aura compared to more ordinary members of the biosphere. Humans, by far the most intelligent animal, have even shown the existence of Aura Masters – individuals capable of freely experimenting and manipulating the forces of aura without restriction to inborn abilities. Even among pokémon, very few have the capability to manipulate it beyond nigh-set in stone maneuvers termed 'Moves'.

Properties of aura have been determined to be the key to identifying pokémon. Poké Balls utilize their uniquely pervasive aura fields for a revolutionary purpose we all too often take for granted - conversion into pure electrical data. This simply doesn't work on animals or ordinary objects; they lack the metaphysical properties to be broken down as such (though there _have_ been no official tests on human Aura Masters or psychics). The invention of object dissolution, or storage in the PC, is a direct result of reverse-engineering the properties of pokémon auras – there's a little bit of artificial pokémon properties in every potion you buy from Silph.

As such, a pokémon is a very specific thing. An earthly creature with particular aura properties compared to its fellow organisms. It follows, then, that a newly discovered creature without these universal properties would _not_ be a pokémon. Regardless of appearance or other properties, if a Poké Ball cannot at least _attempt_ to break it down into data it is not a pokémon – and if it displays phenomena similar to Moves, it is most definitely not an animal either. The latest hopeful was in the discovery of Beldum – but a single tossed Great Ball put a rest to that.

A strange side effect of aura – humans tend to hear pokémon say 'their names' when they vocalize with intent to communicate. It is completely unknown why this is, though some believe their may be a connection to psychic phenomenon. It is notably different between areas – a kantonian bulbasaur may vocalize its thoughts as, well, 'Bulbasaur!' while a ranseian counterpart will seem as though it is saying 'Fushigidane'. Through observation it has in fact been observed that pokémon speaking different 'dialects' actually cannot understand each-other: the implications are doubtless astounding, but lost on me. In either case, pokémon appear to be unaware of how they sound to humans other than the fact that we cannot understand what they are really trying to communicate. They can understand us just fine, so long as they know the _language_ (the pokémons' usage of 'common names' actually appears to be rising in correlation with the adoption of Unown Standard, while other terms such as the aforementioned fushigidane and bisasam are apparently related to older, local tongues).

Interestingly, apricorns and related plants actually appear to be... not plants at all. They share more properties in common with pokémon, and are as such currently considered members of phylum Electrovegeta. This classification may change - more and more professors are becoming proponents of the idea that it is simple convergent evolution. However said families of flora do share notable characteristics with Grass-type Pokémon...

— Cynthia White, _Cryptid and Mythomonster Handbook_


	10. A Really Short Interlude! Lucy is Back!

Gohan looks at his hands. His poor, empty hands – completely devoid of Poké. Well, he has around ten Poké left over, but that really isn't very much when converted to dollars.

At least he has that fairly all right squirtle now. And apparently it came a nickname! You can give Pokémon those? Who knew!

"My sqwertle... Jelly Bean." Huh, that's a name. "Wonder why?"

Nurse Trisha wonders too, though it probably isn't worth thinking about. Mass breeders often just give up on giving pokémon sensible nicknames after a while. He was lucky to find this one for such a low price – its IVs aren't too shabby from what she can tell. Aura Sphere, Dragon Pulse, Fake Out, and Muddy Water? Not too shabby either.

"Hey miss!" Buh? "Do you know when the classes get out? The, uh, ones upstairs?"

"Oh, the one your friend is attending? It should be done in about an hour."

"Hm."

Not knowing what else to do, he, er, sits at a table and waits.

And waits some more.

And waaaaaits some mooooooooooore—

* * *

_Piercing the shining clouds, I fly away (fly away)! While a panorama spreads through my body,_

_When kicked in the face, the Earth gets angry (gets angry)! And causes a volcano to explode!_

_If within the polar ice caps there is a dinosaur... I want to train it to balance on a ball!_

_No problem! I can handle it! No matter what happens, it isn't a big deal! _

_No problem! I can handle it! As loudly as my heart pounds, the Spirit Bomb roars... Sparking!_

_JA-JA-JA-JA-JAN! OH MY GOSH!_

_A grim-faced iguana dump-truck, a quick-footed flying squirrel super car, I cry out "whatever shall I do?!" Pay no mind to my notebooks and pencils, and visit Saturn's rings on (hey!) a Jet Coaster!_

_A voice louder than mama's? Phew! Could there be such a thing?_

_Myyyyy, once it occurs to me, I go... Step! Step! Jump! _

_Shoopa-shoopie shoopa-shoo, Piccolo!_

_It feels like waiting in anticipation for a snack! _

_SHOOPA-SHOOPIE SHOOPA-SHOO, PICCOLOOOOOO!_

_Listen, listen, he's strong! I tell you, he's so strong!_

_Mr. Piccolo, I-I-I-I-I love you!_

_Mr. Piccolo, I! I!_

_Mr. Piccolo, I! I!_

_Mr. Piccolo - I love you!_

* * *

"Gohan! GOHAN!"

He blinks – whoah, who turned out the oh right his eyelids. Dang, he fell _asleep?! _Must be a damn comfy bean-bag chair.

Lucy doesn't seem to mind, though. She's leaning over him, blond hair covering her face as she grins and flashes her new trainer card. Huzzah! And Yamper is registered as her starter!

"Gohan! Gohan! You see? I'm a certified Trainer now!"

"Whoah... cool, Lucy."

She pouts. "You don't seem very excited."

"Sorry, I'm, uh, tired. And hungry." The saiyanoid lugs himself to his feet just in time for his stomach to grumble VERY LOUDLY. Everyone in the Pokémon Center turns to look at _that's a lot of people_. And like... ten adults! "Uh, do you think we could... go to someplace to eat?"

Lucy quirks a smile. "Sure. How did... you, uh, run out of rations already."

"I ate them."

"All of them? We packed for like, a month!"

"I get hungry."

"But... but..."

His eyebrows furrow, before he sighs. Right, right – he's an _alien_. Half one, but still; a biomechanically fundamentally different being. ... But he doesn't _look_ it. Besides his tail... which he doesn't have any more... there really isn't any sort of visual indicator that he's that different from a human. Hell, Yamcha and Krillin were both human and could match him ability-for-ability. And she has absolutely no experience with nonhumans like him.

"Look," he says. "I have a really high metabolism, okay? I need to eat a lot." Leaning in a bit closer, he whispers "How else do you think I can fuel my superpowers?"

"... I forgot about those."

"How."

"Dunno! I was just cramming my head with pokémon facts. I guess you weren't important enough!"

"You know, you can be really mean sometimes."

"... Sorry. Yooou wanna go to McPidgey's?"

"Mick-who-ha's?"

...

"All of this is... uh... pokémon?"

She shakes her head. The table they're eating at is outside the small resturant – so that they can have their Pokémon out as they eat, obviously. Gohan has his new squirtle out; it's sitting obediently next to his seat, watching Yamper chase its own tail.

"Uh-uh. This meat," she says, pointing to the main meat on the dish, "is actually from some animal called a _cow_. Weird, right?"

"... That's the first normal thing we've eaten since I got here. Cows are really yummy. and don't talk..."

"Huh, really? ... There really are no pokémon back where you come from?"

"Don't think so. But a lot of the animals get really big and scary too."

"Hm," she thinks. This _is_ a good meal– clauncher claw and basculine fillet paella, mmm. And slowpoke tail for desert! Oh, _oh_, delicious! ... Maybe the reason he ordered beef was because he recognized the name? "Did you have any pets, back home?"

"No. There was this small dragon who lived near our house... but he just didn't work out as a housepet. It let me feed it, though."

Lucy's hands stop halfway to her bowl: "Wait, _a_ dragon? I thought you said..."

"... Dragons are pokémon here?"

"Mhm. They aren't in Gohan World?"

"Where I come from... well, dragons are just a type of animal. Like dinosaurs! But they can fly and sometimes do other things, too."

"Hm," she mutters. Seems like her mind's not quite here – well, she is very excited about _officially_ starting her journey. She must be planning all sorts of things! ... That cruise. How many stops does it have? She seems placid enough as she tosses scraps to Yamper and Jelly Bean, though. The two wrassle over a sliver of fillet; it looks like they've become fast friends.

**Jelly Bean grew to Lv. 3!**

Daw!

"You want some?" she asks, holding out some of the fish. In her bare hands. Eh, it's not weird to _him_, though mom would probably throw a fit. His stomach gurgles at the memory of the gyarados-flesh... and then churns.

"Nooooo thank you."

She shrugs. "Suit yourself," she says as she slurps it up. "At least you aren't a total vegetarian."

Yamper yips up her leg, and she sighs. "Heeeeeeeere," she mumbles as she drops another piece of fish to the floor. The dog yips happily and shares it with his new friend!

"Yamp yamp! Yamp! _Je__lly Bean! Jelly Bean! We got more!_" he squeaks. "Yamper! _You can have it!_"

"Sqquirtle... _T-thanks, Yamper,_" the infant mumbles. I guess that's another advantage the monsters have over us – their babies are already smart enough to _talk_. And I guess fight. "Squirtle squirt... Squirtle? _So you're sure... you're sure that the tall one isn't my dad?_"

The Puppy Pokémon nods solemnly, exuding an almost aura of sagely know: "Amp. Yamper yamp. Yamp! _Mhm_. _Your daddy's probably real far away. Like, a zillion feet. Mr. Gohan'll totally take good care of you, though!_"

"Squirtle... _I don't know..._"

"Yamper yamper yamp!_ If you don't like training, you can just tell him!_" he says with a grin. "Yamper. YAMPER! _Or not, he can't understand you. But he should get it eventually! I like training though. And fighting!_" he yells, pumping a paw into the ground. Must be the canine equivalent of a fist into the air. "Yampyampyampyamp! _I'm gonna be a superhero! I'm gonna evolve and be the strongest-est puppy ever!_"

Jelly Bean's frown turns into a nervous smile. "Squirtle? Squirtle squirt... _A-a superhero, huh? That does sound cool..._"

The two pairs keep eating. Mmm. Gohan finishes his beef and... er, wishes he had more. His stomach is still gurgling – but he is half human. He should adapt to less food being available, eventually, though that might impact his power-level.

Wonder what dad would think about that. Wonder what Mr. Piccolo would think of that?

"Hey, hey." Lucy snaps her fingers, bringing Gohan back to the fore. "You've been drifitng off a lot. ... You all right?"

"Yeah, just a bit homesick. I... _left_ right after a pretty tumultuous period." He thinks for a bit. "What sort of things have happened here, anways?"

"Huh?"

"You know, like adventures! You have some stories, right?"

She thinks for a couple of seconds, before nodding. "I mean, _I _haven't been on any cool adventures. But there are a few." She grins. "Did you wanna hear about them?"

He nods.

"Can I hear about yours?"

"Uh... sure! Yeah!"

Lucy gives a thumbs up. "Nice! Just let me go first, okay? You guys have super-powers and stuff. I don't wanna have to live up to that after the fact."

"Okay."

"..."

"..."

The two watch their pokémon play under the table, trading scraps of food like cards. Jelly Bean seems to be adjusting pretty quick.

"Do you want to pay?" Lucy pipes up to break the silence.

"Not really?"

"How dare you," she pouts, waving her Trainer Card. "A real gentleman always pays for the food, you know!"

"I don't have any money! Real or... the uh, Poké-credit thingies"

"Hmph." She waves down a waitress from inside to hand over her Trainer card – how did they even manage to get money to digitize between a _card_ and actual coins? What even is technology anymore? She when the transaction completes she sits down, stuffs her face with a final handful of paella (ew), and asks Gohan "Arbgbh yphuh rbbleaddy bduh goeh?"

"Wha?"

Lucy swallows and spits "I SAID, are you ready to go?" as she whips out Yamper's Poké Ball.

"Yep! Jelly Bean, return!"

The two pokémon shine red for a moment; Jelly Bean watches his hands and feet in confusion before _fwoosh_ they're turned into data and sucked into the storage devices. Lucy clips hers to her belt while Gohan just tosses Jelly Bean into his backpack. Good for him. The two waddle their way out of the resturant and into the main city. Eyes on the gym, people. That's what we're here for. The badge. The badge for Gohan, the badge chosen especially for Gohan to earn, Gohan's badge-to-be. That badge.

"So do you have a plan for us to take down Gardenia?" she asks, fingering a couple of TMs in her pocket. Wait, TMs? She's been busy. "Cause _I _do~."

"'Us?'"

Lucy nods, and her wide smile sends a chill down Gohan's spine. "I looked into the the Pokémon League rules while you were sleeping. In Hoenn-"

"Hoenn?"

"Not important. The point is, there's a gym where the Leaders - yep, _Leaders_ challenge you to a double battle! That means that even though no one really does it, it should be perfectly legal for us to gang up on Gardenia! Though we might only get one badge between us..."

"Do you want it?"

"... Yes."

Gohan sighs. "Fine, I did already have a shot." Grump. There'll be more gyms on the way, right? "Actually, how about a deal?" he says with a smile. Taking a page out of your elder's book, eh? "The one whose pokémon lands the finishing blow... gets the badge."

"Deal!"

"Heheh!"

* * *

**Mawuh: the Brash Pokémon**

**Class: Cryptic**

Ability: Rum Power

Signature Move: Rimshot

Egg Group: Monster

Type: Dragon/Poison

Height: 0.91 m

Weight: 15 kg

_The rumours of Mawuh were likely started as a joke, to amuse some bored pokémon researcher. Said to inhabit the regions of Harodashi and Quetzelar, it is claimed to be a distant relative of the charmander line. A bipedal reptilloid like charmander, it has slightly different body structure; more angular head shape, a tail lacking a flame, and a noticebly rotund belly. Most bizarre of all, however, is the firearm it appears to carry wherever it goes. While this should be a dead giveaway to its falsitude, pokémon have been observed to be able and willing to use firearms if they can somehow get them. The idea that a species has learned to either manufacture, or acquire in such numbers that every instance has at least one, is a bit of a disturbing notion. _

_In any case, it is also said that they are extremely rude drunks and have a natural blood alcohol concentration of 0.35. This is insane. Yet, pokémon have been known to do more objectively extreme things. _


	11. A Gardenia Rematch!

"So... this is it."

"Yep."

Outside the gym (literally about a meter besides the door, in fact) the two plotted and scheme. Gardenia came to check up on them a bit ago, but _"H-hey! You can't peek in on our plans!"_

_"Well, then why did you choose to discuss it right outside my gym~?"_

_"So we can challenge you right after!"_

The bemused gym leader left them to their own devices, but not before giving them a good once-over. She probably figured out that they're carrying Ice Beam - that's one of the TMs Lucy bought. What else? Wait, no, that's spoilers!

In any case, they once again push their way into the gym. Wait, huh, it's dark? Not too dark to see, but it almost feels like night in here – Gohan glances back out the door just before it closes to confirm that, no, it's still well in the afternoon. The trees rustle with artificial wind, and... well, what else is there to do but trudge forwards?

"... Do you see anything?"

"Yeah," he says as he looks around. He really hasn't had to exercise super senses here – or actually, for a while in anything. Most fights back home were pretty damn loud. "Over there is a few pokémon that look like roses?"

"Roserade? Or roselia, probably. They were her signature pokémon."

"And way at the back of the gym," he points through the trees, "is... uh, pretty much everyone from last time. Even the guide!"

"How can you see that... uh... never mind. What're they doing?"

"Hm..."

It looks like she's waiting for them. Do they not have to fight their way to her, again? Maybe the first time was enough and they can just walk in. Er, okay, just gotta push through the last few branches in the way...

"ROOOOSE!"

**Roserade used Field Flash!**

The area lights up! They've reached the arena... and oh boy, is it an arena. It... well, it's the same fenced off spot as the previous match. But it just feels so different in the dark like this! Even the two glowing pokémon to the sides just add to the atmosphere – the small crowd of gym trainers (and oh hey, the Gym Guide) off to the sides, with Gardenia towards the back and middle.

"Well well well!" she laughs, putting a hand over her face. "It seems you've come for a rematch!"

"Uh, we were sitting outside. You came to talk with us." As he points this out the faces in the crowd drop slightly- "I mean YES!" he shouts, "I have returned with new power and strength! A most unexpected rematch!" Lucy snorts at how hard he's trying; hey, the only experience he's had with showfighting was that buffoon Mr. Satan! ... Though come to think of it, he _really_ had damn near everyone on Earth going despite evidence to the contrary. Maybe he could learn more from his performance that he'd care to admit. "AND," he says, flourishing a gesture towards Lucy, "I've brought my lovely assistant as backup! Hoohah!"

"That's good! I'm glad you've improved, and brought company!" Gardenia's smile droops into a slightly scary grin. "'Cause I'm not holding back this time, Mr. Gohan."

**Leader Gardenia wants to battle! [Tag Battle**

**Jelly Bean was sent out! **

**The foe sent out Roserade!**

"Rosé~! _Fuhuhuhu_!" The Bouquet Pokémon puts a flower over its face, mocking the _level five_ squirtle before it. She squares her stance...

**It's dark and eerie... Move accuracy reduced by two stages!**

"W-whoah..."

"Toxic Spikes!"

"F-fake out!"

Roserade's cackles suddenly cut off as the squirtle _barrels_ into it! The world goes black for a second (**The foe's ****Roserade flinched! It can't move!**) as the few spikes it managed to generate spill onto the ground. That didn't do a lot of damage... but it was a stain against her pride! It lashes out with a "Power Whip!", the squirtle barely scurrying out of the way... tch! Priority moves...

"Jelly Bean, use Muddy Water!"

"SQUIIIIIIIRT!"

The Tiny Turtle Pokémon unleashes a deluge of muddy water! The stunned roserade braces itself as **The foe's ****Roserade avoided the attack****!** Wait, uh, oh no. Her face grows a rictus of a grin as Jelly Bean blanches.

This... this is the heat of battle. The trainers are there, but they're secondary now. Mere advisers in the background as the monsters engage on glorious combat! Roserade cackles as she lashes out with a Power Whip, only to miss again. Eyes widen in surprise as **Jelly Bean used Muddy Water! It's not very effective...** but it lowered her accuracy even further! She chitters in frustration as the gritty water blurs her vision. She was supposed to have the advantage! This ISN'T FAIR!

Oh, right, Toxic Spikes. That's the whole reason she's on the team. She can feel the squirtle whaling on her – is that Dragon Pulse? – but its level is too low to matter. Just line up and focus...

**The foe's Roserade used Toxic Spikes! Poisoned spikes were scattered around the feet of your team!**

He continues to pound away at Roserade.

**Jelly Bean used Aura Sphere! It's not very effective...**

**Jelly Bean used Dragon Pulse!**

**Jelly Bean used—**

**The foe's Roserade used Power Whip! It's super effective! Jelly Bean fainted!**

The stunned squirtle stands stock still for a moment, the sheer _force_ of the blow not registering until wait no yup there it goes. The poor pokémon's eyes roll up into its head as it _leeeeans_ forwards and falls flat on its face. Brutal. Gohan takes a second to stare before he slowly raises the Poké Ball and returns him.

"Hey," Lucy whispers to him. "I think it's my turn." He steps into the shadows as she takes his place, and once **Chimecho was sent out! **the fight starts to build up again.

"Chimecho. _Well, hello._"

"Rooose. _Tch. A levitator._" The plant pokémon pounds its hand-equivalents together. "Erade. _I'm going to strip you down to the bone, you know that?_"

"Chime. _Not the warmest welcome you could have given to someone in their first official battle._"

Chimecho dodges the first attack and hits Roserade with a wrap – the pokémon curses, is Natural Cure really that useful for a Poison-type? **Roserade was hurt by Wrap!** She gags as the pokémon's long, paper-like body flows around her and tightens, binding her. It feels like she's trying to crush her! Roserade flails and tries to use Power Whip, but the chimecho's small head twists out of the way and leaves it hitting air.

Her eyes widen when Chimecho glows with a pink power, and she cries out. "Rose! _Gah!_"

The world isn't quite going black, but it's very distorted – pain, the feeling like she's being crushed spreads all across her body! And... and her _mind_? It's an Extrasensory attack!

**It's super effective!**

**The foe's Roserade was hurt by wrap!**

She growls – this battle has been humiliating! Even this psychic windchime is a good chunk of levels lower than her and, er, wait, she can just tough this out. Roserade calms her mind, and lets the din of battle dim.

Hurt by wrap again. Her HP is rather low at this point, but not too concerning. Focus, focus...

There!

**Chimecho used—**

**The foe's Roserade used Shadow Ball!**

Having been wrapped _around_ Roserade, there's little Chimecho can do to avoid the attack. The phantom orb flickers into existence literally right in front of her face, and... well, she's only able to widen her eyes in panic as the blob of ectoplasm drenches her in a super effective barrage ("Chimechime! _Gah! Gah, it's on me!_"). **The foe's ****Roserade was released from Wrap!** Chimecho lashes out with Extrasensory, but the bouqet is able to twirl and fire back with another ball of phantasmal shadow.

... Which misses, of course, because it was never a good idea to fire a projectile on the tail end of a pirouette. Chimecho's yellow eyes glow with inner fire as Roserade steps back, already knowing exactly what's coming—

**Chimecho used Extrasensory!**

**It's super effective!**

**The foe's Roserade fainted!**

"Nice! I didn't expect you to actually beat her," Gardenia says as Roserade dissolves into a red stream of data before flowing back up into her Poké Ball. "You guys really did prepare!"

"T-thank you?" Gohan mutters as Lucy glares. You can't talk! This is a SUPER SERIOUS battle!

**The foe sent out Torterra!**

"Oh no," Lucy's composure breaks as Gardenia laughs. The gargantuan tortoise laughs with her – it's _level 63_. Which it rather loudly lets the entire city know when it starts to charge.

**The foe's Torterra used Crunch!**

**It's super effective! Chimecho fainted!**

_"Not good not good NOT GOOD"_

"Ch-chimecho, return," she mumbles. Torterra guffaws (a strange sound reminiscent of a car starting, crossed with a laser beam) as Gohan steps back up to the plate. Gardenia puts a hand to her face.

"Oh, a Water-type? I don't think that's the best idea."

Gohan doesn't bother responding. He chucks the Poké Ball–

**Sighduck was sent out...! Sighduck was Poisoned!**

The duck winces as he stares his opponent down – that's a big turtle. Being Poisoned definitely won't help.

The torterra stares down at Sighduck – that's a tiny duck.

The two start to circle each other. They can both tell that the other is an opponent that is... rather a challenge. The trainers let it happen, watching for a moment, _the_ moment to turn into a perfect advantage.

"TOR. _So. You are this 'super-duck' I have heard about. I must say, other than your Level, you don't look like much._"

"PsyDUCK._ Same to you. I've gotten better since my last time here._" **Sighduck used Calm Mind!** His aura barely noticebly brightens; he immediately flinches again, much more noticeably, as the poison gnaws off a chunk of his HP.

"Torrrrterrrrraaaa... _I see Rosie has already set her trap._" The turtle's jaw rises into a light smile. "Torterra. Ter. _Your loss here won't be your fault, don't feel bad. You never had a chance._"

Gohan smiles too as he watches the stand-off, a bit wryly. Torterra has the STAB type advantage here. By a _lot. _But if he just lets this go on for a little longer...

**Sighduck used Calm Mind!**

He grins. The next time he sees that–

**The foe's Torterra used Wood Hammer!**

**Sighduck avoided the attack!**

**Sighduck took damage from Poison!**

Oh, uh, crap.

"VHVHVHRUM!" **The foe's Torterra used Crunch! Sighduck avoided the attack! Sighduck used Calm Mind!** The poor platypus wheezes frantically as it runs around the arena, causing the spectators to have small laughing fits. What kind of battle pokémon runs around in such an undignified manner? Well, if they actually had brains, they'd realize that it was smarter than just waiting for the enemy to attack. Torterra's roars as it barrels its way around the honestly too small for it arena, smashing fence posts to splinters and gouging out the dirt and grass from the floor.

Sighduck backs up against a fence post towards the left side of the arena – any further and he'd be out of bounds. The Continent Pokémon shifts its weight and turns to face the duck. Heaving, coughing, _growling_.

"Tor. _Stop. Running. Around_."

"Psyduck?! _So you can pound me into the ground?!_"

**Sighduck took damage from Poison!**

With one last roar, Torterra _charges_ with all its might. Sighduck... foolishly, perhaps, takes a stand. He waits, eyes on the prize, oh crap Torterra just hopped and is now sliding towards him at full speed! _Woooooood Hammer_! The grass and dirt spew out from behind him like a lawnmower was shredding a lawn.

Sighduck opens his eyes as wide as he can.

And pushes off the ground just as Torterra's body comes within a foot, close enough for the dirt to be spraying onto him.

**Sighduck used... ordinary, non-Move jump? **"OWRD OWRD OWRD OWRD!" he shrieks in alarm, realising at the last second that this might be more risky than rewarding. **Sighduck grabbed onto Torterra's plantlike growths and is hanging on for dear life as the tortoise careens around, having jumped back to his feet and now desperately trying to shake the duck off?!**

"TORTERRA! _GITOFFA ME!_"

This is Sighduck's first rodeo. He is bad at it. The duck screams as Torterra uses Wood Hammer against the ground – the force rips him off the tree and slams him into the dirt! Damn, that actually took off some HP.

**Sighduck took damage from Poison!**

"VHRRRM. TOR. TEAR. _Gh!_ _STAY. DOWN._" Torterra grumbles at the prone duck pushing itself onto its... arms. Glaring defiantly at the bulky tortoise. "Torterra. Torraterrato– _The level difference is too damn high. None of the Moves you used last time can put a DENT into–_"

**Sighduck used Ice Beam!**

"VRRHRMRMGMRU_UUM!"_

**It's super effective! DOUBLY! Torterra's knees collapse under him, and he falls to the ground!**

"Psy?! _You're still up after that?!_"

"Tor... torterra... _I ain't going down that easy._"

**Sighduck used Ice Beam!**

Torterra goes down. Gardenia whistles as the struggling pokémon plummets into unconsciousness and returns him. Sighduck wheezes; he may have gotten to the point where he could _defeat_ the more powerful pokémon, and had a doubly effective attack – but it was hard just surviving long enough to use it! Even not taking a hit, the damn Poison has worn him down to less than half of his full HP...

"Man, that was clever! Most trainers don't think of telling their pokémon to do stuff on their own – heck, a lot would call it insubordination! Most people end up relying on their opponent's commands as tells. I didn't notice your psyduck's boosted stats until it was too late!"

"Sigh... you know, this is really hard on the vocal cords." He thinks of the battles back in his world, with the constant _kiai. __"Not as hard as the old fights, but still."_

"Suck it up, buttercup~."

**Sighduck took damage from Poison!**

**The foe sent out Sudowoodo! **Whipping her hand around, she points! "Sudowoodo, use Psych Up!" The woody-looking pokémon stares off into space, its eyes going kind of blank. Sighduck rushes forwards and uses Surf, entirely without command – the wave of water knocks Sudowoodo down, and grinds its HP to over half gone.

**The foe's Sudowoodo copied the opponent's stat changes!**

"Lucy, what just happened?" he asks as the pokémon retaliates with Slam, barely missing his. "Why did Sighduck use Surf?"

"Sudowoodo... uh, it's called _Pseudo_-woodo," she explains with visible air quotes. "It's not actually a Grass-type."

"Oh, huh! Sighduck must've known that somehow."

Gardenia grins as the two pokémon duke it out, exchanging small blows. She sees Sighduck lose another chunk of HP to Poison. A snap of the fingers as it prepares another Surf attack, and **The foe's ****Sudowoodo used Sucker Punch!** The sudden burst of speed and aura of causes Sighduck to squawk in alarm before Sudowoodo's "hands" slam into it! The bits of water generated splatter across the battlefield harmlessly as Sighduck is slapped into the ground.

**Sighduck took damage from Poison!**

**Sighduck fainted! **

"What... what just...?"

Gardenia taps her head. "Priority move, eh? They go first. Nuh-matter what." He grumbles, but returns the belly-up duck to its Poké Ball. Sudowoodo tenses – even with Psych Up giving it enough Special Defense to survive that blow, it still has an uncomfortably low amount of HP left. Christ, is that psyduck perfectly IVd in Special Attack or something? He has no way of knowing, but it has perfect IVs in Speed, Defense, _and_ Special Attack.

Gohan for his part, just sighs. Damn. Her team is just too strong, huh? He moves back and lets Lucy take the stage...

**Yamper was sent out!** Gardenia and Lucy waste no time – they point and shout! Move, people, Moves! **Yamper was Poisoned! **

**Yamper used Quick Attack (It's not very effective...)! The foe's ****Sudowoodo used Slam...! The foe's Sudowoodo fainted!**

"Huh? Heheh, man, you two learn quick!"

Sudowoodo's Slam was stopped in its tracks when Yamper rocketed into his chest and knocked him over. The last thing the mimic pokémon sees before fading into unconsciousness is a slobbery tongue. _"Oh sweet Heatran no..."_ he thinks, as the dog pants and sprays spittle. How humiliating! Beaten by a single-digit level pokémon!

**Yamper took damage from Poison!**

"Sudowoodo, return!" *whiiiine!* "Heheheh, you guys are lucky! You know how I said I wasn't holding back against you?" Gohan and Lucy nod. Is this going to be good or _bad_ news, for them? "Weeeell... while I'm fighting with everything I have right now, I might, _might_ have _underestimated_ you guys in prepping for this. And also only have four Poké Balls on me." Oooohohoho! The pair glances at each other and, well, _eheheh~!_ That means... if they can take out this last pokémon...!

**The foe sent out Tangrowth!**

"Yamp! _Wowie! You're terrifying!_"

"BHRMPH."

"Tangrowth, use Earthquake!"

"GROOOOOWTH! _Perish!_"

The Vine Pokémon raises a foot – and glowing with white energy, slams it back into the ground. The resulting shockwave shreds through the ground, ripping up the dirt and causing! Well, you know. Yamper's out before he even knows what hit him. Lucy winces as the dog slams against a fence post behind her. Oooooow, that's gonna leave a mark.

"Well... I guess you're up, Gohan." Lucy sighs. "Have fun with your dang badge or whatever." He doesn't respond, at least yet. Eyes on the prize, baby, no distractions.

**Core-fish was sent out! Core-fish was Poisoned!**

"Corphish?! _What in infierno de Giratina are you?!"_

"Tangrowth. _Tangrowth_."

"Corephi. Phish. _Ah, that explains it. I think._"

The trainers fading into the background once more, the two pokémon rush! Sighduck may have been strong, but Core-fish was _weak and stupid_. He got the biggest pep-talk outside, and Gohan is hoping, _hoping_ that it sunk in.

_"Now, Core-fish, what do you do when the enemy is attacking you...? From far away, dodge. If you can't... use your bubble-thingie on their eyeballs!"_

**Core-fish used Bubble Beam! A critical hit! It's not very effective...**

Ooh, minimal damage. Unused to an opponent using a long range attack from like two feet in front of him, the Power Whip he was charging fades into nothing as he tries to shield his face. Gah! Ow! Frick! **Core-fish used Knock Off!** Dangit, the berry! **Core-fish took damage from Poison! **Good thing Poison damage doesn't cause flinching or the like.

Tangrowth roars and slams the ground with a Power Whip, only to find that Core-fish has already scuttled out of the way. Where is he?! _Real, manly_ pokémon don't hide in a fight! The totemic vinebundle swivels around until GAH! The foot! He used Crunch! **The foe's Tangrowth used Power Whip!** But it's too late, Core-fish is already huddled up against the fence posts on the border of the arena...

"TAN. GROWTH. Tangrowth! _YOU. PUNY CRAB. Fight like a man!_"

"Cooooreeephish. _... Eh, no thank you, mi amigo._"

**The foe's Tangrowth used Ancient Power!** Core-fish, already on his metaphorical toes to flee (unlike an ordinary pokémon which would be trying to set up an ill-fated attack) manages to evade the barrage of rocks and barely avoids becoming sushi. The opponent roars in frustration. **The foe's ****Tangrowth used Sludge Bomb! Core-fish used Sludge Bomb! **

...

**Core-fish avoided the attack! Core-fish took damage from Poison!**

**It's super effective! The foe's Tangrowth was Poisoned!**

"Tan... Tan...! _You... you...!_"

**Core-fish risked itself to use Knock Off with precise punching form, launching itself from a stand-still! ... A vital hit! **

Tangrowth staggers back, stunned. What... what was that? A quick check behind him shows that the corphish didn't come out of that brazen assault unscathed – even having been untouched this entire battle, it's wearing low on stamina and that last attack did serious recoil. But what did he _do_?!

Gohan grins, knowing _exactly_ what he just did. He used proper martial arts techniques to boost the power of his attack. Focus all your energy into a single point... and the damage you can deal is incalculable!

**The foe's Tangrowth used Earthquake!**

**Core-fish fainted!**

... Oh.

* * *

**Symbiont: the Parasite Pokémon**

**Class: Xeno**

National Pokédex Number: Unconfirmed

Ability: Moxie analogue

Egg Group: Undiscovered

Transformations: Symbiotic Fusions

Type: Poison/Psychic, or Poison/Rock

Height: 1.2 m

Weight: 55.5 kg

_While officially known as the Symbiont, the rumours of this pokémon have spread far and wide. Usually called Nihilego in Unown-speaking regions, its popularity as a cryptid belies how little information we truly have on it. The only real support we have of it (and similar cryptid's) existence is the paper by Professor Mohn from the remote Alola region, on wormholes to other dimensional planes and possible pokémon inhabitants: however, Nihilego has shown up in Alolan mythology that far predates it. __At least, this is the common knowledge. Similar interdimensional pokémon have been known for some time now, and the Interpol is equipped to deal with them under a technically-not-secret but very much kept-quiet division called the UB Task Force. While classified as a Xeno under cryptid categories, it and related pokémon are officially termed 'Ultra Beasts'._

_While it can function as an independent pokémon it greatly prefers parasitism, targeting humanoids. The potent neurotoxin causes the host to go mad with power they do not really wield, and will ultimately lead to their death if they aren't pried apart. __Nihilego itself resembles a jellyfish, in the shape of a young girl. Its tentacles flow downwards from the wavy rim of the bell in an assymetrical pattern – ones fused together in the back they end at about 'waist-height' to mimic hair, while more independent branched tentacles imitate bangs, arms, and legs respectively. The empty space in the center gives the impression of the 'silhouette' of a young girl; likely the intended spot for a host. _


	12. Storytime: Tale of the Pokémon Master

"..."

Lucy and Gohan trundle forwards through the forest in silence. It's snowing – not rare in Sinnoh at all, but it still feels a little off to Gohan. Mount Paozu was almost right on the equator, and, well, it's honestly taking a bit to adjust to his new enviroment's frostiness. At least, he's telling himself that so he doesn't brood over their latest loss.

"Heeeeeeyy, you okay?"

"Mhm. M'fine."

"You don't look fine."

"I'm just bummed out, okay?" he grumbles, finally turning his head. "I thought I'd finally be able to... you know, _win_. Be the cool guy. With my brain! Not only is that not happening, the reason it isn't happening is because my guys aren't _strong_ enough!"

"... Why are you so insistent on winning with your 'brain' anyways?"

A flex answers her question. Ah. He's probably never really had an intellectual challenge – he's been faced with and overcome great adversity before, true, but it doesn't take an IQ of 200 to pound an alien into pulp. Gohan's muscles have been challenged way more than his tactical mind, and he kind of wants to change that.

"Doooo... uh..." She blanks. Honestly, she's in a pretty crappy mood too. Skipping a badge? Really? Who in the heck does that?! ... To be fair, not many trainers taking on the Pokémon League Challenge have tickets to get on the S.S. Spiral, but still!

Wait, where did he...? Did he _collapse_?

"I'm fine... just hungry... _Really_ hungry..."

She taps her foot unconvinced. Okay, so he's leaning against a tree. Someone that strong should _never_ have to lean against a tree. Sighing, the lass drops to her bottom and magics a ball of ponigiri from her backpack. "I was saving this for my pokémon, but can eat this, oka—?!" She barely even has time to blink before it's gone.

Gohan sighs, before sitting down too. "Thanks." _"Damn! I feel better already... I really haven't been eating enough, have I?"_ "Think we should stop here for today?"

"Uuh, sure. Did you want to eat the rest of - okay, okay, stop that!" she splutters to his miserable face. Pleading, _begging_ for more food! "You can have it all! But you have to get me more tomorrow!"

...

Gohan sighs in an _almost_ content manner as Lucy looks on in horror. Berries, gummi, crunchies and malasada – all dissapeared into the ravenous cavern that is the saiyan's digestive system.

On the one hand, not as much food as normal. On the other? It was so, so _filling_ compared to normal food! I guess the normal animals they serve back home just didn't have the same _oomph_ as treats made for pokémon. The calories in apricorn juice are off the charts!

"I guess we're camping here for the night, huh?" she asks him between bites of her own small poffin. He nods furiously. They're well off the beaten path, but... well, it isn't anything they can't handle. Abomasnow? Pft! Not outside the tall grass.

The girl smiles tiredly before stretching and letting out a yawn – she leans back, pushing into the trunk of one of the many trees around them. "So... you said you would tell me your guys's story, right?"

"Huh?" He gulps down the last of his malasada and somehow ends up taking a bite of the tree next to him. "Oh, yeah... Can you go first?"

"Uhk." She leans back into her tree, grinning. "Where should I start?"

"I don't know anything about your world. Why would I know where to start telling me stuff? ... I guess I've heard a bit about this 'Red' guy, he sounds like a big deal. Start with him!"

* * *

"Okay, so, a looong time ago in Kanto – a region a bit to the southwest of here – oh, like five years ago. Well, you know about Pokédexes, right? Oh, they're like... data-gathering machines. You can connect them to your Trainer ID or something, and they can collect data on pokémon by analyzing them when you catch them! Pretty nifty, huh?"

"Apparently Red loved pokémon - and pokémon battling - from a really young age. There's like a million stories out there about how he almost got killed by wild spearow or something or was crushed between two battling trainers, but he wasn't because he was just that good. Well, one day he finally got his pokémon license... like, he always super LOVED pokémon! It was super late when he earned his license from the local professor – oh, his town was so small they didn't even have a Pokémon Center! It's a good thing their region's lead professor lived only a short ways away. Whatever, so it was super late and he had to go to bed."

"So, like, I actually got to meet Red once! It was amazing! He seems super stoic and tough but I think he has trouble expressing himself. He's really super reckless though; that might not have worked out for him if he didn't have the skill to back it up. It's kinda funny, heh. ANYWAYS since he was so impatient and reckless, the first thing he did when waking up was gun straight for the tall grass outside of Pallet Town - the place he lived. Like, he didn't even have any Poké Balls! He might've just been planning to wrassle a rattata into the ground or something."

"The professor... Oak, caught him just in time! Reminded Red that he was going to be given a pokémon at his lab just a bit later. Huh? Yeah, no, people don't just give out pokémon for free! Red had a job to do for the professor."

"Hey, you mentioned wanting to be a scholar, right? Like, after we do pokémon stuff and you settle down or find a way back home. Yeah, Oak is like the smartest guy in the world! Next to Bill who invented the freaking PC and stuff, Oak is like _the_ Pokémon professor! He invented the Pokédex, and Red was going to fill one of the first editions out for him...! Uh, yeah, there _was_ another guy. I think his name was Blue? Yeah, weird coincidence. He also got a pokémon from the professor at the same time as Red."

"Mhm, it's been slow going... only a few regions have been indexed so far. The National Pokédex is getting bigger, though! I think they're cataloging pokémon in Isshu right now. Anyways, The professor actually gave them a choice of a few pretty rare pokémon... well, rare in the wild, anyways. Red got to choose first, and he chose this little fire lizard called charmander! I met it as a charizard, it was _sooo cool_! Huh? Yeah, Blue got aaaaaa squirtle. Oh, right, you have one!"

"Anyways, like, the professor gave them their Pokédexes after a bit and uh... Red didn't really use it as intended? He figured out pretty quickly that he could use it as an advantage in battling – you know, as a means to its own end or something. Probably not that helpful for super rare pokémon since you have to catch them to get data, but like, it could help him with clearing away hordes of Bug-types and Normal-types. He sort of meandered northways up to, and through, and past the next city and forest."

"I hope Professor Oak knew what he had unleashed. Like, it hindsight it should have been super obvious! Red was _kinda _interested in researchy stuff... but that was, like, probably because the smartest guy in the world lived pretty much nextdoor – and Blue, who was probably his rival now that I think about it, also was studying to become a professor when he grew up!"

"Huh? That's a little off topic. Uh, yeah, most people catch and train a few pokémon around our age – you can make some money off of it, and it isn't too expensive a hobby to start out in! It doesn't pay a _lot_ though, so unless you're a pro or a Gym Leader or something most people settle into other jobs once they start getting older."

"The Pokémon Leagues were a new thing around then – and Kanto was only the most recent place to get one at that point! A few regions like... Harodashi, and Alola still don't even have an Elite Four! Yeah, they really are pretty recent – most people's journeys used to be more open-ended than a hunt for badges. Red always knew, _knew_ he wanted to be a battle trainer, the reckless crazy man, and the instant he heard about the Indigo League in Kanto he was _hooked_. I think he almost _immediately_ abandoned the Pokédex hunt he was 'tasked' with and started training to take down the League!"

"Huh, he reminds you of someone? Yeah, I guess you could describe it as him 'finding' a 'good fight'. Yeah yeah, he did still end up completing the Pokédex, at least if you combine his with Blue's. Oh, wait, dang, I can't believe I forgot that! They really were rivals. Huh? No, you'll get to find out later."

"So he went into the gym in Pewter City. The leader specialized in Rock-types, so you'd think he'd be done for, right? Right? WRONG! Okay, he _did_ lose, but Brock was like 'dang kid, you did really well with that charmander and ten caterpillars!' Something in that fight boosted him or something, cause he spent the next few weeks training. Just... like, _really_ hard. Scouring the forest for new pokémon to catch, thinking up strategies and battle styles, and just GRINDING his pokémon to level up! I think by the end of it he fought Blue, who had actually already gotten that gym's badge and was on his way out. Post-training Red _crushed_ Blue. Like, absolutely _thrashed_ his pokémon without one of his being taken out! It was, uh, the same story when he finally returned to the gym. Red might've secretly been a goof, but he was totally no-nonsense when it came to training and battling."

"He still reminds you of someone? Who...? Your dad?! Wow, now I want to hear your story... wait, no, it's still my turn!"

"Anyways, after beating the Pewter leader he did some research on what this whole 'Pokémon League' thing was. And then... it was a _massacre_. Most people slowly work their way through gyms, right? Like, we got to the end of Gardenia's in a day, but we kinda cheated. And every gym is different, too! Some can take weeks to figure out how to level a challenge."

"Red hit Kanto's gyms like he was a freaking hitman! Bang! One week, Viridian City's gym is annihilated in a couple of hours! A few months pass... stuff is quiet, he's probably off training and then BAM! Saffron City's gym is shredded like tissue paper in a single evening!"

"What made him so good? Uh, huh. If I knew, wouldn't I _be_ as good?! It might be just his sheer dedication to training... honing both his Pokémon's strength, skills, and his own strategic mind. ... Yeah, we should spend some time training before we hit the next gym we challenge. He also went all over the region looking for new pokémon – even to a neighboring dwarf region called Sevii... It's like, a string of islands a bit south of Kanto? We might pass there on our ocean trip, actually! Plus, he _was_ acquainted with a professor. He might've started applying serious research stuff to battling and properties of pokémon that might help with it."

"Anyways... another one of Red's major things hiding under his stern face was that he was, like, just a super nice guy! He can be a little scary when you first see him, but once you get to know him and talk to... or at least try to talk to him for a bit, it becomes pretty clear that he's just a friendly goof. A goof that's terrifyingly skilled at battles, but still. Like, he stumbled onto Bill the science guy in a real pickle. The guy somehow managed to fuse himself with a clefairy or something. And Red, the saint that he was, took the time to help him out!"

"That, uh, also got him into a lot of trouble. ... What do you mean 'now' we're getting to the good part?!"

...

"Ahem, yes, right. So... do you know about Team Rocket? Well, at one point they were the most feared gang in the WORLD. Yeah, that's right. GANG. They had guns, they had Poison-type pokémon... they were _ruthless_. There wasn't any _official_ info about them beyond 'rumours' and 'urban legends', and they didn't operate far past Kanto's borders... but _yeesh_. People were being made to 'disappear'...! What was their 'evil plan'...? Uh... kill people and pokémon and make money doing illegal stuff? They weren't super villains. Just super evil _regular_ villains. I guess they could have gone after world domination or something like that."

"And Red tore them to the _ground_. Took their plans and plowed through them like a roided-out gyarados before grinding them to dust under his running shoes. He basically ended up fighting and _winning_ a shadow war while barely even knowing it! Probably just thought something like, 'oh, goody me, look at all these TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES' or something insane like that."

"He actually first bumped into them on the way between the first and second gyms he challenged. Yeah, lucky he came out on top, right? Actually it was just a couple of grunts - I don't think they were armed or anything. I think they were trying to smuggle fossils or something? He was passing through this mountain well known for them and just _bumped_ into them. Probably didn't even figure out they were mobsters."

"He kept bumping into them. Red _was_ going pretty much every freaking place he could in search of items and pokémon and stuff, so I guess it's not surprising. There wasn't any master plan – which might have been _better_. At least then he could have just STOPPED it. No, they had a bunch of _little_ evil plans. Like stealing a TM from a random person or setting up a 'trainer challenge' that's actually a recruitment drive or... breeding and killing cubone to sell their crests. Eugh."

"One of their biggest operations was this thing called the Rocket Game Corner in Celadon City, right? It was basically a big casino – that sold _pokémon_ as prizes. Seriously! Anyways, Red had his eye on a porygon they were selling. Apparently it was one of the first ever _artificial_ pokémon species, and he wanted to see if it would fit into his team. So he started gambling. What? No, why would there be a law against him using the slots?"

"Anyways he saw a Team Rocket grunt guarding a poster all suspicious-like. Turns out behind the poster was a switch, and that switch opened up the basement or something and revealed Team Rocket's secret evil base to him!"

"It, uh... wasn't that for much longer. By the end of the day he had looted the place like it was the Celadon Department store during a sale! Where everything is 100% off! The only real resistance he ran into was the Rocket Boss Giovanni."

"Okay, so like, Giovanni was a really good trainer. Not a prodigy like Red, but he had _decades_ of experience. And was totally ruthless. Red was seriously challenged. But apparently he liked it or something? Yeah, somewhere between getting his butt kicked by the Pewter gym leader and him walking over the mafia he had come to appreciate good fights. Since, at this point, they didn't happen to him very much."

"But he still won. Giovanni was all like 'BWAH, you foolish child! You don't understand what's happening!' or something. And then he ran away."

"What? The police? ... Okay, they probably _should_ have arrested him then... but Rocket was still a pretty big operation! I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the cops were theirs to boss around. ... Yeah, Red definitely should have kept him from leaving."

"Basically the same thing happened a bit later at the Silph Co building, in Saffron City. They're this reeeeally big company filled with tech and Giovanni... I don't know what he wanted specifically, but it must've been an appealing cash-grab!"

"Red was in town."

"He and his pokémon had been training."

"The beat-down he layed on them was so intense that Team Rocket basically crumbled then and there! It was still a big organization, yeah, so you'd think it'd be sturdier than that. But at this point Red was really well known. Nobody could beat him in a battle, and no one could hurt _him_ because of his super-strong pokémon and his quick draw! Team Rocket was still made up of _individual people_ – and all of them were terrified of him! After he drove them out of Saffron, that was pretty much it. Team Rocket was done."

"Until Red showed up to the Viridian Gym for his eighth and final badge. Somehow, Giovanni had the position of the _Viridian City_ gym leader! No clue how. Pokémon League might have just signed off on making it official without doing a super thorough inspection? He _was_ a really tough trainer. It would explain a bit of how they wormed their way into all those positions of power."

"It's just _such a dang shame_ that they were a _gym_. You know. The things Red has been taking down like hits on a list? Giovanni was like, _livid_ when he saw the same kid a third time, on his home turf!"

"Their final battle was _great_, I heard. It was the sort of thing you'd see between Champions – he didn't hold back at _all_ like Gym Leaders are supposed to. But Red still won. Like he always did since that first loss. Giovanni just sort of cracked after that. He was like, 'oh, what a good fight, how amazing!' but inside he was _ticked off_ that he got creamed by an eleven year old like, three times. He sullenly gave up his gym's badge, marveled that even now Red didn't seem to care enough to turn him in, and just... tore down the rest of Team Rocket himself. Decommissioned the whole thing."

"Yeah, surviving pieces of Team Rocket still pop up from time to time. Like or Neo Rocket or whatever. But they don't come close to the regional threat that the original was."

"The rest of the story really isn't much. He walked up the Victory Road of his region, creamed everyone in his way. Took a quick stop at the top of the Indigo Plateau to buy some battle items and immediately smashed through the Elite Four."

"But there was a sitting Champ. Guess, guess! ... No, it wasn't the professor! That would've been funny, though – it was Blue! Somehow he had managed to claw his way to the top of the Indigo League before him!"

"That last fight... oooh, boy. Blue fought _tooth and nail_ to keep his recently earned title. But Red had something he didn't. He wasn't just a good fighter – he was a _smart_ fighter. Before the fight even started he had perfected his team. Looked at each of his Pokémon's moves, determined which were useful, which weren't abused the _heck_ out of TMs... it was a close fight, compared to what it could have been. But Blue lost. Shortest Championship reign in history, everyone!"

"Or it would have been if Red didn't immediately _forfeit_ his own Championship and ran off. There's a bunch of stories about what he did next and all of them are way too dramatic. He basically just wanted to keep training, running around and getting stronger and kicking the crap out of anyone who battled him."

* * *

**Lanthan: the Rare Earth Pokémon**

**Class: Great Old One**

National Pokédex Number: TBA

Ability: Sheer Force

Signature Move:

Egg Group: Unknown

Age: Several million years

Type:Ground/Steel, suspected

Height:2.5 m

Weight: 1400 kg

_Legends from the Yotokan-Tandor region say that it helped form the surface of the Earth; along with its 'brothers' Actan and Heatran, it placed metallic ores in the planet's crust. They are said to be the spawn of Groudon. While Lanthan is still unconfirmed to really exist, the Heatran has in fact been captured by Champion Dawn and Groudon has been the subject of a very public event in recent Hoennian history. While the myths have a few obvious embellishments, such as claiming naturally-occurring bronze and relying on classical mythological timescales of only a few millennia, there may be more truth here for the source of metals on Earth than scholars would like to admit._


	13. Storytime: Tale of the Monkey Boy

"Whoah. He really is a big deal, I think."

"Uh, yeah! He's almost godlike in a weird way. Even wild pokémon know about him at this point. He's like a walking Max Repel! ... Now it's your turn! It better be good, given your super powers and stuff!"

"Uh, uh, right." The saiyan crosses his arms, thinking as hard as he can. Well, he _was_ drawing comparisons between Red and his dad. Might as well just start with him!

* * *

"Okay, so, back home my dad is a really big deal! Nobody knows who he is, though. He doesn't have a secret identity, he's just... a quiet kind of guy? I guess he's also not much of a superhero. He's a good person, really! It's just he's more... er, motivated by finding good fights than saving the world. He still saves the world though."

"So my dad was from another planet, right? An alien! It sure was weird when we found that out. I mean, we did have tails – what? It was cut off! I'm not lying! Fine, believe whatever you want. It'll grow back..."

"Dad was... oh, his name? Goku! It sounds a little familiar? I... don't know what to tell you. Dad's the only Goku I've ever known. Anyways, he was raised in the woods. Yeah, he was _born_ in space, but his parents sent him away really young in a space ship. My... my uncle said it was to invade Earth, but I kind of like to think that they were saving him. Yeah, like the planet was doomed and they wanted him to get out... It's not _that_ farfetched, the planet was blown up."

"By what? Uh... spoilers? ... Huh. I can... kind of see why that would be kind of scary to a normal person."

"Dad was found in the middle of the forest and raised by this old martial arts master. I'm named after him! I never got to meet Grandpa Gohan. He died way before I was born. But I'm proud to be named after such cool guy."

"Anyways back home there was this old legend... these things called the Dragon Balls. They were mystical artifacts said to grant any one wish, once you brought them all together. Seven spheres: each one with a different number of stars on them. Once you bring them together you chant the right chant and Shenron, the god of dragons comes out to grant whatever you want! The problem is every time you use them the Dragon Balls scatter across the planet."

"So my dad was living on his own in the forest. Grandpa Gohan had died a few years earlier, but dad was able to take care of himself just fine. ... Yeah, I guess he might've had powers back then? I don't think he could do anything really weird but he _was_ probably super strong compared to a normal person. Like able to wrestle dinosaurs to the ground. ... Dinosaurs are extinct? Since when? ... Oh."

"Dad was eventually found by a girl named Bulma! She had found one of the Dragon Balls and was trying to find the rest. She, uh, _enlisted_ him after a brief skirmish and they went off to find the rest."

"... Yeah, it wasn't actually that hard for them. Bulma already had like two or three, and dad was really strong. Some bad guys showed up and were either like, really easily beat up, or ended up joining the team. I think by the end they had met Oolong, Yamaha, and Puar!"

"Oolong was a shape-shifting pig. ... Tepig? No, just a _pig_. Yes, the animal! He went to some sort of shape-shifting magic school. ... No, I can't do it. Puar was similar, but he was a cat... and, uh, he could fly? Yeah."

"Yamcha was the real big addition. Heh, yeah, he probably isn't much compared to... well, _me _right now, but back then he was useful! He a bandit who fended for himself in the desert and made a living beating people up and selling their Capsules."

"Yeah, he was just a human. ... Yes, he could punch a boulder to pieces."

"I guess our world is just... more dangerous to live in? Even with all the Pokémon here there's still some level of... civility, even out in the wild. My world is filled with actual _evil_ monsters and magic and stuff. I think people had to be able to get tougher to survive."

"Anyways things like the Dragon Ball were obscure, but not like _totally unknown_. There was this guy named Pilaf. I think he was some sort of mob boss? He and his cronies tricked dad and his friends into a trap. One even dad couldn't break out of! Yeah, for just a bit."

"Sooo... earlier in their long walk to find the Dragon Balls they went through this place called Fry Pan Mountain. It was called that because it and the castle that sat on top of it were constantly on fire. Mhm. Yep. One of the Dragon Balls was in there."

"They were stopped by the Ox-King! ... Yes, I think he _might_ be strong enough to take on a Pokémon one-on-one? He had this axe and waved it around, and shouted "OI WHO THE HECK ARE YOU GUYS". It's kind of hard for me to seem him acting that way, though! He's always been so nice to me! ... Oh, uh, Ox-King's my gramps! On mom's side."

"Long story short is that apparently Ox-King and the old Grandpa Gohan had actually known each other a long time ago! The trained under a legendary martial arts master... the Turtle Hermit, Roshi! ... I... I dunno. Maybe he could beat me? I _know_ I'm way stronger than him, but I've seen him practicing sometimes... he's good. He's _real_ good. Might have a trick or two up his sleeves."

"So Ox-King and my dad make a deal – if he can get in touch with their old master and see if there's a way to put out the fire, he'll let them on their way and hand over the Dragon Ball that was in his castle."

"Dad found him earlier in the adventure, actually – he saved his pet turtle, so they were on good terms. As a reward, Roshi gave him... the Kinto'un! ... It's like, a magic cloud? Good people are able to ride it around. He used it to go and find him again. Roshi, I think he asked for something in return, but he did end up following him back and helping out."

"How? He blew up the whole mountain! It doesn't seem too impressive now – yeah, I was super awed when I first heard it too! ... Yes, I could probably... No, I promise I won't."

"Hm... do _you_ know about that Aura stuff? Okay, yeah, it makes sense that she would talk about it with you – you're her sister, after all. ... Back home, we all have _ki_: it's kind of similar, actually, but not really the same? I'm not sure what makes them different, but from what I've been told I know that in _practice_, they can be almost the same."

"Cynthia told me that the different 'Types' of pokémon are actually based on frequencies of aura signatures. The seven or eighteen Types are just the most common, right? Yeah. It's _sort of_ similar back home, but a lot more downplayed. You can tell if someone's got 'pure' or 'dark and BAD' ki but there's no real type matchups or anything like them. It all just comes down to how strong you can get and the techniques you develop."

"And Roshi taught dad his first Ki-based technique! ... What're they like? I guess... you know how pokémon have physical and special Moves? Most martial arts techniques would just be Physical, but Roshi taught dad his first Special move, eh? A laser blast out of his hands, the 'Kamehameha'!"

"Huh, that actually means something in your old language...? 'Turtle destruction wave'... that makes a surprising amount of sense, for a technique invented by the Turtle Hermit."

"Anyways, Goku used the Kamehameha to punch a hole in the wall of the place they were trapped in – uh, back at the Pilaf guy's place. I did tell that out of order, didn't I? Oh well. He punched a hole in the wall big enough for Oolong and Puar to get out. They were able to thwart Pilaf's evil plans just in time! Pilaf wanted to use the Dragon Balls to take over the planet, and Oolong... get this... foiled him by shouting his wish to the dragon louder at the last second!"

"I don't know what he wished for. Mom stopped dad before he could tell me. It was probably inappropriate – Oolong is like that."

"He was... uh, around nine years old."

"Mhm."

"Since he was pretty new at it, the hole he blasted _was_ only big enough for Oolong and Puar to get through. Even though dad was really short back then, he couldn't fit through the tiny whole in the wall. So Pilaf had no trouble punishing them for ruining his evil plans. He, like, put them in an even bigger room? But instead of stone walls they were solid steel, and a meter thick! And - and, the ceiling was shatterproof glass."

"Huh? Have you ever _seen_ that sort of glass? ... Huh. Must be another... big technology difference, I guess."

"The point of it was that Pilaf's evil lair was in the middle of the Diablo Desert – and the midday sun would cook them alive in there! Dad's Kamehameha couldn't even make a dent in the walls. And, uh, nobody else there could do anything. All their Capsules were stolen..."

"Uh, Capsules? The ones like Poké Balls but for anything? Yeah, they were used for a lot."

"You wanna know how they got out of that? ... No, they didn't teleport. Want another guess...? Okay. He turned into a _giant monkey_."

"It's the truth! When a saiyan (with a tail) looks up at the full moon, they turn into an Oozaru! The roof was glass, so he could see the night sky... and the moon! He then went kind of crazy. Apparently, after he wrecked Pilaf's place the others had to chop off his tail... I've actually had my tail chopped off, it doesn't hurt as much as you'd think. Not nearly as much as squeezing it does."

"... After that, they split up for a while. Most of them went to the city in the west, while dad left to train with the old hermit. For how long...? Er, about... a year? The first time, at least. They trained together a while."

"A lot happened during his time with Roshi, but the MOST IMPORTANT, and most cool to you probably, was the reign of Demon King Piccolo. Yeah, that's right, a _demon_. He was sealed away in an electric rice cooker three hundred years ago, when Roshi was still training under his own master, Mutaito. Guess who freed him? ... Yeah, that loser _Pilaf_."

"The attacks started just after the Strongest Under the Heavens martial arts tournament. ... No, dad didn't win. He was the runner up – a thee-eyed guy named Tenshinhan beat him by a hair. ... Uh, what happened during the tournament? That's not really..."

"Tournaments are really important here, huh? I guess I can tell that too."

"So – wait, no the demons sound cooler? ... Make up your mind. Please?"

...

"Okay, so, it was after the final match. Then, the guy who beat dad, had just disowned his old master for being a big jerk and a murderer or something and joined the good-guys group, along with his tiny friend Chiatzou. As the group was leaving the tournament grounds, he realized - dad, that is, realized that he had forgotten his stuff back at the arena! Or, well, the backstage part of it where the fighters hung out. His best friend Krillin offered to go back and get them."

"Krillin was someone he met during his training with Roshi! He started out kind of a jerk, but dad was... I dunno, just too dang nice or something. It's kind of funny how often that works – yeah, yeah, some bad guys have to be beaten up until they die. But a weird amount of seemingly totally-rotten guys can be redeemed. Krillin wasn't a _villain_ but he was kind of mean at first. But their shared... basically torture under the Turtle Hermit caused a strong bond to form! Until by this tournament – the second one for them, they were thick as thieves."

"..."

"They all heard the scream from the arena. Krillin was on the floor. His neck was broken. The only other person there was the announcer for the tournament, who had also been beaten up pretty badly. He said... he said that a monster had come in and killed Krillin, and taken the records of all the previous contestants."

"King Piccolo hadn't even _revealed_ himself, and he already killed someone. Not just anyone, but a member of dad's main group! He was _furious_. Like, Goku had fought bad guys before. But things hadn't ever really gotten to a point like this, you know? Either they were too dumb or silly – Pilaf was definitely too silly – or they weren't strong enough to actually do anything to Goku or the people he was with through him."

"It might have been the first time he really felt angry, you know? Even when Grandpa Gohan died it was in the middle of the night. Krillin was _murdered_, less than a hundred feet from him, in cold blood."

"He didn't even wait for a second, Goku just _left_. He swiped Bulma's radar, took his staff, hopped on his Kinto'un and flew out of there in pursuit."

"Piccolo had three goals in this. One; he wanted all the Dragon Balls to grant his wish. He was already super strong at the time, but he wanted his youth back, and his _full_ power. Two; he wanted to kill every martial artist in the world... The army? I, uh, why...? ... Wow. You think they could've been useful?"

"..."

"Damn, I think I'm finally starting to grasp the differences in... uh, _scale_ between our and 'normal' conflicts. ... Yeah, the military's never been an issue for us. We usually just blow them off."

"Mh. Well, once of the reasons was that he didn't want to take any chances on being sealed away again. He was worried that someone might know - or be able to figure out, the technique that Master Mutaito used to defeat him the first time. And thirdly, with those two out of the way, he wanted to use his army of monsters to take over the world."

"Dad managed to catch up with the monster that killed Krillin pretty quickly. It was some sort of green devil - and it was _monstrously_ strong. He didn't stand a chance! The monster only needed a few good hits to weaken him, and then it knocked him off Kinto'un and into the ground before flying away. It was pretty lucky for him when he woke up – oh, the fall knocked him out cold. Well, he happened to land in the Sacred Land of Korin! It was a place where he had trained before, and protected from bad guys, so everyone there knew him and helped him out."

"Well, there was this one guy. His name was Yajirobe, and he was _freakishly strong_. I know you might say that about a lot of the people I know, but Yajirobe was something else. ... No, he wasn't _especially_ strong. There's just no explanation for it! He was just a normal human who also happened to be able to throw hands with demons. Anyways he got really angry with dad for eating his fish dinner, and they had a short fight before being interrupted by another monster."

"Yajirobe _killed it_. He sliced it in two with his samurai sword. I know, right?! Dad didn't even get a chance to fight it! Why did he show up...? Ah, Yajirobe happened to have one of the Dragon Balls on him. My dad asked for him to hand it off, but he said no – I think he wanted to get in more fights because of it?"

"It didn't really matter because the original monster showed up right afterwards. I think Piccolo was telepathic, and found out that one of his minions was beaten. The devil was pretty surprised to see that my dad was still alive!"

"The monster made a _big_ mistake right afterwards – provoking my dad; that is, he mocked Krillin's death and said he would do the same to him. See, one of the areas saiyans can draw their strength is from raw anger. It doesn't sound like it would work; with a lot of fighters, going into a blind rage would just make you more reckless, right? But saiyans in their base instincts are already super fighters so the negative effects are negligible, while the increase in savage attack is more than worth it. My dad beat the everloving _crapbaskets_ out of him and then vaporized the monster with a Kamehameha."

"So anyways, that's two down, right? And Piccolo saw both of them with his mind-powers. He showed up _fast_ to avenge his demons."

"When dad explained what was happening to Yajirobe, he left. Yeah, that's right, he just _left _after tossing Goku the Dragon Ball he had. Apparently he had heard the name Piccolo in a legend, and was _terrified_ once he realized exactly what was going to show up! He stuck around to watch but he was like, hiding behind a tree or something."

"Dad was too angry to notice Yajirobe's sudden shift in demeanor, though. He was still gunning for the guy who had gotten his best friend killed. This was kind of a mistake. Remember how I said that rage doesn't impair a saiyan's real fighting ability that much? It can still ruin their judgement. Dad was way in over his head."

"The fight started out fairly even, but really quickly took a bad turn. Piccolo punched him right in the neck and almost broke it! He then picked him up by his neck and punched him really hard, in the face. But dad wasn't going to go out without a brutal fight. Guess what he did in that position? ... No, he couldn't reach. Piccolo was taller than a full-grown man and dad was still shorter than _we_ are."

"Give up? He threw his head forwards and _bit the demon king's thumb_! Almost took it right off, it must've been amazing! It hurt Piccolo enough to throw dad across the battlefield before he realized what he was doing."

"The fight went on a little but longer, but dad still wasn't a match for Piccolo. It ended with Piccolo almost frying him with a ki wave – and after dad fell, checking for a _heartbeat _for good measure. Yeah, most bad guys don't bother doing that!"

"His only mistake... wasn't even really a mistake. He just didn't count on dad's anatomy being so much sturdier than a normal human's; how could he have known? Dad's heart started back up a few minutes later, and Yajirobe dragged him to safety. All the way to Korin Tower! And up it, too, carrying my wounded dad on his back. He really was a trooper, even if he was pretty reluctant about the whole thing. I think he was bribed with the promise of food."

"Korin – the master who had trained dad when he was there before – was asked to help train him more, but he said he couldn't. ... No, he wasn't being mean, he just didn't know anything else to teach him! He was already too strong or something. He did have one trick up his sleeve; the Ultra Divine Water."

"So the Ultra Divine Water was said to unlock one's true potential if you drank it. However, if one _had_ no potential or had already reached it, the water would just kill them. Heck, even if they just weren't strong enough already, it could still kill them! It was like poison; everyone who had ever drank it died. Korin didn't even know if it was legit or not. Either way, dad drank the water provided all in one gulp... and then proceeded to almost die for the next six hours. Piccolo? He was busy, uh, taking over the world."

"Well, even though it hurt he survived and got a big powerboost. ... No, we actually don't know. It seems obvious that the water really was divine, right? Well... we later learned that saiyans always get a boost in strength after taking serious injuries or coming near death. Since the only person to ever drink it and survive/get stronger _was_ a saiyan, maybe it really was just poison."

"Literally right after he was done with it, he got on Kinto'un and sped off to meet Piccolo. When he reached the Capital – I told you Piccolo was taking over the world, right? – Tenshinhan was already there. He was almost beaten, actually. Not even by Piccolo, by another one of his goons! Dad was barely able to save him in time. But once he got there, everything was fine! For Tenshinhan, at least."

"Dad blew the demon's brains out in one kick. ... It is brutal, isn't it. Killing isn't good, I know, but the demons were pure evil. They definitely couldn't be redeemed – sometimes it really is the only option."

"Well, Piccolo was aggravated and lunged for him. Dad was stronger, but so was Piccolo! He had used the Dragon Balls to regain his youth! Or did he actually wish for _eternal_ youth? I don't know, this was before I was born. Either way, he was tough."

"The fight was fairly even before it started going downhill – but this time, in dad's favor! Piccolo grew more and more unhinged as dad blocked his attacks and hit back. The battle remained incredibly intense though! Piccolo brought out the entirety of his power to try for victory, but even that wasn't enough for anything decisive. He got in a good hit on dad's leg and broke it, though – but dad avoided the coup de grâce and clocked him in the jaw! That _really_ ticked Piccolo off. He poured all his power into an ultimate attack! The entire area around them was leveled!"

"Yeah, and dad _survived_. Tenshinhan had enough left in him to get him out of the way before he was blown to bits!"

"And then Piccolo took Tenshinhan and used him as a hostage... I know, that really was dirty! But I guess he _was_ evil. Piccolo then uses the opportunity to shatter dad's left arm. And his other leg. The evil king then drops Tenshinhan and prepares to finish my dad off. He swoops upwards before plunging towards dad! But he made one, fatal mistake! Dad still had one arm! He used his ki to blast off the ground and met Piccolo head on! He poured all his strength into one fist – one final blow to decided the fate of the world! Piccolo backed down at the last second and tried to block – and dad plowed right through his torso!"

"And then the great demon king exploded, and the world was saved! For then. There were a lot more baddies to go."

* * *

**Demiwaif: the Fantasy Pokémon**

**Class: Manifestation**

National Pokédex Number: Unconfirmed

Ability: Serene Grace

Egg Group: Undiscovered

Type: Fairy or Psychic, suspected

Height: 2 m

Weight: 122 kg

_Demiwaif is said to have been worshipped in ancient times as a goddess of beauty, especially in the regions of Fochun and its neighbors. Other legends state that it is the precursor to all Fairy-type Pokémon, though it doesn't explain other Fairy-type legendaries. __It is said to have been captured by a trainer, but this is unconfirmed – Fochun is a rather remote place, not to mention an entirely different nation than us. What we do know is that if it exists, it very closely resembles a Gardevoir._


	14. Darkness Building! Gohan's Frustration!

It's the next day! Gohan and Lucy slept where they were – she sent Yamper out to keep watch, not that they really needed it. Even the stupidest pokémon could see Gohan's raw strength once they took a close look.

Shining eyes constantly flit in and out of sight as they walk along, Core-fish and Yamper out along side them. Gohan watches the sides of the path; it looks like a lot of pokémon are around here... but they seem kind of skittish. A quick glance at what was probably a pretty intimidating one ('Shiftry'?) sends it scampering off into the bush, startling the crawdad pokémon into scuttling for the protection of the small area between the two humans.

"Hey Lucy... is this normal?"

"Is what normal? ... Maybe not, but we don't _have_ to follow the maps."

"N-no, I meant the way all the pokémon are acting."

"... What pokémon?"

He gives her a look. "What? I can't see in the dark." Ugh, right. Gohan sighs as he just sort of... generally gestures to their surroundings?

"There's a bunch of wild pokémon running around. And they're looking at us pretty weirdly..."

"Well, duh! People don't come this way often. You can handle them though, right?"

"Yeah..." he mutters, kind of unsure. Well, yeah, he's strong enough to use a planetoid like a volley ball. But... ah, that's honestly good enough. So why does he feel a creeping feeling of dread?

Whaaatever. They trundle onwards, pushing aside the brush. Wait... the path? Where's the path? "Lucy... where's the path?"

She rolls her eyes, before actually looking and realizing wait, there _is no path_. Did they get turned around?! He gulps at her confused shrug.

He thought the _Paozu_ forest was bad as a kid, but this place is totally weird! The trees were actually close enough to block out the sun almost entirely, and it was eerily quiet. The cries of pokémon echo through the woods... but shouldn't there be more of them? Man, he can barely see through the wait a goddamn second.

"... Lucy? Is there supposed to be purple fog?"

"Uh oh."

Uh oh? That isn't good.

**Wild Gastly appeared!**

Lucy gets behind Gohan, quickly returning a too-curious-for-his-own-good Yamper and covering her mouth with some cloth. "Gohan! T-that's a gastly!" she says. Sharp eyes slide out of the mist, atop an unnaturally wide grin. Despite himself... Gohan feels uneasy.

"Bleh!"

Well, that just ruined the atmosphere. The saiyan grunts, mind whirling. Lucy covering her mouth means that this gas is probably pretty bad to inhale. Poison...? Saiyans can take worse toxins than humans, so he should be relatively fine. Maybe it's even Poison instead of poison and he'll be _totally_ fine. ... No, it's what the thing is physically made of, it's definitely mundane toxins.

"Core-fish, use... Bubble Beam!"

The toxic wisp quickly lifts its main core to make Core-fish's bubbled beam whoosh under it. The poison clouds are disrupted, but they're more by-product than a proper part of its body.

"Gohan, it's a Ghost-type! Use _any_ of your other moves! ... Except Sludge Bomb."

**Core-fish used Crunch!** **The wild Gastly avoided the attack!**

"Crap! Core-fish, use Knock Off!"

The pokémon spits dramatically and winds up a punch, glaring at the cackling visage of the gastly. He watches... gastly cackles... it's distracted! NOW!

**Core-fish used Knock Off! It's Super Effective! The wild Gastly's Sitrus Berry was knocked off! **

Right in the kisser! Core-fish falls to the ground, squealing a bit as he lands on his side. That's _nothing_ compared to how pissed Gastly is right now, though. Gohan and Lucy glance upwards, the glowing eyes shining out of the treetops as its smile swivels into a frown. A cartoonish red welt bulges from the spot on its core where Core-fish landed that hit.

A dark glow...

"Corephiiiish? _Is it just me, or did..._"

**The wild Gastly used Night Shade! Core-fish fainted!**

"Core-fish, return," Gohan mumbles as Gastly's mouth completes its swivel and sets back into place as a smile. "Think one of yours will do better, Lucy?"

"G-gohan?" she stutters. "Ghosts are s-supposed to be super weak to Dark-type attacks... and... and Night Shade does damage equal to the user's level. This gastly is _way too strong_."

"BLEH!"

**The wild Gastly used Night Shade! Yamper fainted!**

UH.

"... Lucy, run."

Lo and behold, she is already running. He keeps his eyes on the sinister Ghost-type, taking its mockery as she run away. The last thing he hears of her is a quick struggle to open her bag for some Potions.

"Bleh!"

A long, kind of disgusting tongue lolls out of its mouth as it cackles. The face then starts to swivel around on a point, causing the tongue to whip around everywhere! Luckily, while fast, it's not supersonic; the saiyan grunts before easily weaving around the lashes of ghostly appendage. The rotation starts to slow down as Gastly realizes it isn't getting anywhere, and a far more serious frown adorns its face.

"Go, Sighduck!"

"PSYYYYY... duck? _FIIIINALLY, some time to... to... is that a ghost?!_"

"Sighduck, stay on your toes!" With a quick look up, the duck notes that indeed, Gastly is already preparing to fire an attack at him! He quickly rolls to the side (**The wild Gastly used Night Shade! Sighduck avoided the attack!**) and fires an Ice Beam at the ghost. "Blaagh!" It hits true, and it seems the level difference is not so immense! Gastly appears to be down a fair amount of HP.

It grimaces, and uses Destiny Bond. Sighduck holds back, hesitating for just long enough– **The wild Gastly used Night Shade!**

...

Where is this? The world seems black, somehow. Black and empty...

No, it's purple. Where is this?

_"Gaaaastly..."_

W-w-

"GASTLY! _ї풌\횢ɑw\5__픃__ǎ 6ҩxɽި ¯x؈8چ i其죧䎛 !_"

...

Gohan grimaces as he returns Sighduck. He wasn't totally unable to battle yet – he shook off that... whatever it was, pretty quickly. A sort of mirage hitting him and causing... catatonic damage? He looked catatonic and was being damaged at the same time, at least.

"All right, you big mean ghost!" Gohan shouts, putting up his dukes. The gastly's eyes bug out in surprise. A normal person would just roll over and die, or at least try to run, once a terribly spooky ghost wiped out their defenses. What does this mad child intend to do? "You have one chance to leave us alone before I beat the crap out of you!"

Hah! HAH! You fool, you absolute buffoon! Humans don't have any moves that can directly harm _ghosts. _They don't have any STAB unless they reach an absurdly high levels – or attacks that can hurt Ghost-types at all for that matter. And the ones that follow the path of the martial artist... Gastly's grin widens again, and a creaking noise can be heard. Gohan gulps at the sight. That just ain't right.

"You asked for this, buddy," he says before lifting off the ground. Gastly coughs in surprise as before he knows it, a fist impacts and phases through his face...!

**Gohan used Mach Punch! It doesn't affect the wild Gastly...**

The pokémon blinks as it realizes that what it just felt was a _failed punch_. Jesus, that was like an airsoft cannon! Is this guy a Fighting-type _freak_ like that Chuck dude? It quickly shunts its facial features backwards through its core, staring at Gohan's form.

**The wild Gastly used Night** **Shade!**

And there goes... less than one ten-thousandth of Gohan's total energy reserves. It's Gastly's turn to gulp as Gohan faces it, hovering at its level in the treetops. This human kid is a... what is he? Well, he has a hellishly high amount of HP at the very least. If he knows any, _any_ moves that aren't Normal or Fighting-type... Gastly does't want to learn if Gohan's Attack and Defense are of similar magnitudes.

The saiyan launched back at the Ghost-type, his arm sailing forwards. Gastly flinched as a barrage of punches disrupted its core, almost disrupting its form with its sheer speed and force. Gohan grows more and more frustrated as his punches only go through his target.

_"T-these aren't moves! They're just punches! Oh, oh my Uxie, how much Aura must this guy be packing for his punches to not-affect me like they were Normal moves?!"_

A frowning Gohan raises a hand: Gastly tilts his head as a yellow light starts to spark to life in the saiyan's palm, quickly condensing into a pulsating orb.

"Bleh...?"

**Gohan used Ki Blast! It doesn't affect the wild Gastly...**

He gags and ripples as a shockwave rings out – it looks like he's been driven up against what was once the intact trunk of a tree, now almost blown to smithereens. The top has been shorn off by Gohan's latest punch, and –

...

Gastly blinks back into consciousness, coughing up sawdust particulate. He sees the flying kid toss a shred of wood behind him – did he smack him with a tree branch?! Heh, that's a way to get around type immunity...

Gohan touches down in front of the Ghost-type and winces; he looks like he's been diagonally cut down the center! The gastly gives a weak smirk.

"BLEH!"

"You _still_ want to make faces at me – Gah!" **The wild Gastly used** **Lick...! Gohan was Paralyzed! **"W-whuah?!" he shouts as he trips over his own feet, faceplanting into the dirt as Gastly reassembles and cackles.

The floored Gohan grits his teeth, rolling onto his back and glaring at the Gastly. What is this?! His whole aura (lowercase) feels like it's seizing up! Every movement is a struggle, and sometimes he just spasms and fails to move at all...

**The wild Gastly used Hex! It still does almost nothing at all...**

...

The pokémon looks over its moves. Lick? Not nearly damaging enough. Night Shade? The lad has too much total HP to whittle away with it. Hex? ... He thought that would work, he really did! And it still barely affected the kid...! All that's left is Destiny Bond, and that's... well, being KOd is never a great thing. The kid grumbles, lurching to his feet and turning around. He tries to throw a swipe.

**Gohan is Paralyzed! He can't move!**

"Gastly gastly...? _Kid... I can't hurt you, and you can't hurt me. Why don't we just... part ways?__" _the Ghost-type pleads. He realizes a second too late that Gohan, despite his peculiar abilities and insane raw stats, still can't understand pokémon speech. God... even Paralyzed, this kid will be way too fast to escape... he has to... he has to...!

Gohan growls and lurches forwards, barely missing Gastly with an absolutely devastating swipe. It hits him with Hex again... and again... and again... desperately trying to deal enough damage to get Gohan off its back. The fight devolves into Gastly slowly backing up, and maneuvering around the trees while Gohan unsteadily bounds after it, his body occasionally seizing up in contractions as the Paralysis throttles his metaphysical anatomy.

**The wild Gastly used Hex! ****The wild Gastly used Hex! ****The wild Gastly used Hex! ****The wild Gastly used Hex! ****The wild Gastly used Hex! ****The wild Gastly used Hex! ****The wild Gastly used Hex!**** It's not very effective...****The wild Gastly used Hex!**** It's not very effective...****The wild Gastly used Hex! It's not very effective...**

**There's no PP left for that Move!**

"Bleh!?"

Gohan suddenly lunges forwards, planting his fist into Gastly's face. It still doesn't make contact, not really, but... Gastly feels something. It quickly uses Lick before swirling up the nearest tree, vanishing into the canopy.

"You... get back here, ghost!"

_Annoyance Vexation Dissatisfaction Disgruntlement Hindrance_

Gohan's energy flares, illuminating the forest around him in a flash of... darkness? His aura is light, yeah, but it seems almost purplish compared to its normal basic white sheen. The frustration of this 'battle' must be getting to him... darkening his ki... Semi-concealed pokémon that had watching the battle squeal and scamper away as the shadows they were hiding in are blown away; and Gastly's eyes bug out as Gohan locks on to him.

The tree nearest to Gastly explodes into wooden shards when Gohan _stares at it hard enough_, the Ghost-type's form rippling harder than ever before with the sheer force. That kid looks like he's getting mighty ticked off. Why can't he just... give up and let the toxins take him down?! Or at least _run away_ so he doesn't have to deal with this anymore!

_FUTILITY STRUGGLE FAILURE IMPEDIMENT IRRITATION_

"Arrgh!" Agh, okay Gohan, calm down. It's obvious that your normal attacks don't work on this thing – something something Normal and Fighting-type attacks. The tree brach you smacked it with earlier worked really well, even if you weren't able to put any real strength into it. "Gah... you're really something else, ghost..."

**The wild Gastly used Lick! It's not very effective...**

_FRUSTRATION RESENTMENT TANTRUM FURY STORM HATRED HATRED HATRED–!_

**Gohan used Brutal Swing! It's Super Effective! The wild Gastly fainted!**

* * *

**Marshadow: the Gloomdweller Pokémon**

**Class: Demon**

National Pokédex Number: Unconfirmed

Ability: Technician, Iron Fist, or Adaptability

Signature Move: Spectral Thief

Egg Group: Undiscovered

Transformations: Zenith Marshadow

Type: Ghost/Fighting, suspected

Height: 0.7 m

Weight: 22 kg

_Able to conceal itself in shadows, it never appears before humans, so its very existence is the stuff of myth. Reports of it in the Alola region are common but usually dismissed as hogwash. However, looking at it objectively, it doesn't seem too farfetched – many common pokémon are far more absurd if plainly described. The only problem with marshadow seems to be the inability to conclusively catch one; which makes sense, for a Ghost-type._

_When it becomes fired up it is said to undergo a transformation into what is known as its 'Zenith' form; surrounded by green fire and bursting with power supposedly associated with secret and powerful techniques the Alolans call 'Z-Moves'. Exactly how this could work under the hood is debated, especially since all rumours have its Ability as a known one that clearly does have this effect. The actual method of transformation may be similar to morpeko's Ability 'Hunger Switch' or aegislash's Ability 'Stance Change'. _


	15. Held up on the road! Lucy is hurt!

It was late afternoon when Lucy burst through the last few layers of treeline to stumble onto Route 216. Or, at least a relatively wide dirt path that would lead her to it if she followed it for long enough. She shivers as a cold wind rushes by... open path or not, the Eterna Forest is ominous, even this close to the edge. No pokémon even bothered to _try_ and stop her mad dash through the woods after the first while.

... Why? Lucy thinks to herself as she catches her breath. Absentmindedly she reaches for her pack, some small part in the back of her brain screaming at her to revive her fainted pokémon. ... She turns around, slowly.

"Chim. _Hey._"

Ah, right. Chimecho must've come out sometime during her scramble. She releases the KOd Yamper with a sigh, and starts addressing him.

"Hey, hey buddy? Revive...?" she waves the item in front of his nose. It twitches, and she quickly shoves the medicinal polyhedron down his throat. The dog suddenly shoots up, coughing before looking around wildly.

"YAMPYAMPYAMPYAMPYAMPYAMPYAMP— _W-w-w-what where's the ghost?! There was a ghost, right?_" he yips, looking up at Chimecho. "YAMPYAMPYAMPYampyampyamp... _Is everyone okay?! Where's the other guys?_"

Lucy coos and pets him, trying to get her puppy baby to calm down as Chimecho sighs and shivers. As much as she doesn't want to admit it, her life as a trained pokémon has been rather... pampering... and the chill of the north is unfamiliar. She dreads what climatic horrors the winter would bring her, if the group was still up here by then.

"Chuuuuumecho. _I think we should get ready to camp for the night. We definitely won't be reaching a town before then, and... and..._" her words slip into silence when she sees Lucy's blank stare. ... Damn, the communication barrier. Perhaps she should put effort into that rather than battling?

Either way, Lucy manages to get the gist of it after a few seconds of thought. They all _look_ tired, after all. Did they really run for like, an hour? "Let's go find a spot to relax, m'kay Yamper?" The Puppy Pokémon squirms out of his owner's arms and hops a few paces forwards before looking back, panting with excitement. "Heh." Even Chimecho can't help but smile a bit.

...

"Tch! Where is everything? Why is this path just empty except for this one boulder?!"

"Chim. _There IS a small tree up ahead._"

A pair of shining eyes glowers at the party making its way down the path towards their owner. Making their way down _his_ path. The path it carved out to funnel pokémon into its clutches. You see, Freeboot was a thief. This massively long, massively featureless path was his trap!

He had come from a long ways away, and was very scared in the forest at first. The area and its resources were unfamiliar – and also filled with ghosts, that didn't help. But with his brilliant mind and knowledge gleaned from time spent among 'trainers', he eventually came up with a _dastardly plan_.

One – pin a target behind cover with a bullet-like Move.

Two – extort them for items. If they try to run or charge, start shooting.

He never planned for _this_, though. A human?! Don't they usually take the path along the mountains? They have terrifying magic, unholy mechanisms with which they can manipulate the very fabric of a pokémon's soul! He should know, stealing one of their artifacts is how he learned Zap Cannon.

This once-meadowy strip of forest was the perfect hunting grounds – he cut it all down and razed the flora, of course. It lead to Route 216, so desperate traveling pokémon would walk it. The trees were extremely dense around it, and filled to the brim with voracious victreebel and ariados just out of sight. True, he had to be careful himself, but Freeboot had faith in his abilities to deal with those ruffians.

He did not, however, have faith in his abilities to resist the pull of a Poké Ball.

What is this mysterious thief? Is Freeboot a sniveling sneasel, murkrow, or thievul? A sneaky scraggy or malicious malamar?!

No. No, Freeboot is a jigglypuff. A jigglypuff in a berry tree in the middle of a road surrounded by monsters.

"Do you guys think we could stop here?" Lucy asks, gesturing to the boulder. It's pretty strange – but mighty convenient. The rock is very large, easily wide enough for five people to lay down besides. And that doesn't even cover the overhanging outcrop! Oh, oh, it's like it was _made_ to sleep in! Chimecho and Yamper nod, and the two Pokémon crawl under the rock to tear away the spinarak webs and claim a spot. Lucy has to crouch pretty low to follow, but that's fine. Just means something like a pinsir won't be able to get in, heh heh. Grabbing the upper lip of the overhang with her right hand, she–

**The wild Jigglypuff used Zap Cannon! **

When a human is hit by a pokémon's Move, they are not affected in the same way that a fellow pokémon would be most of the time. Unless they are true Aura Users or powerful psychics, their levels of aura are so low compared to even the lowest leveled pokémon that most moves affect them quite strangely. Many a wild pokémon has been absolutely astonished to see their would-be prey be completely unaffected by Mean Look and immediately run for the hills. In turn, a pokémon unfamiliar with animals has often by shocked when their wacky idea to hit that two-legged weirdo with a little Twineedle ended up punching holes right through their torso.

Sometimes, by virtue of having been so thoroughly outcompeted that your kind is almost nonexistent, you can _just_ hang on by virtue of no one knowing how the hell do deal with you when you show up.

And sometimes you can have your goddamn fingers seared off by aura-generated ball lightning. A strangled shriek is choked on as Lucy's body convluses from the current, throwing her onto her back and smacking her head into the dirt. Chimecho stares in horror at her shorn appendages and quickly covers Yamper's eyes, to cover up both the state of her hand and the ground under her, stained with blood.

**Lucy fainted!**

"CHIM?! _What?! What happened?_"

"Y-yamp! _I-I felt my hair standing up on end... I think someone used an Electric-type attack on her!_"

Chimecho grimaces, and lowers her tail on the condition that "Chimecho, echo? _You look away, got it?_" She then slowly reaches out into the open and wraps her tail around Lucy's leg before dragging her in. Yamper quickly crawls to her side, whimpering.

A sizzling sound suddenly rings out, causing some dust to start falling. Another Zap Cannon must have hit their shelter.

Okay, okay, time to grab this tauros by the horns. Chimecho slowly, _slowly_ sticks her head over the lip of rock and immediately ducks again when a Zap Cannon whistles past her head. Maybe Yamper... no, he's too small and weak. Even being immune to Paralysis, he would KO over on the spot. At least the attacker should be almost out of Zap Cannons by now...

"Jiggly! JIGGLY! _Come out with your hands raised! Turn over all your items and I'll let you pass!_" Freeboot shouts at the top of his tiny lungs, filled with confidence. There's no way they can get out of this! The human is definitely down... the manner of her defeat was, if he was honest with himself, a bit disturbing – pokémon _never_ had, ah, _that_ much damage occur from a little jolt. But he wasn't being honest with himself, he was being _greedy_. "Jigglypuff! _I repeat - turn over all your items, and you will be allowed to pass!_"

A tiny head pops up from behind the rock. He can barely make it out; the tree he is sitting in is only a dozen meters or so away, but pokémon are tiny.

"Chim! _No!_"

Well, she definitely heard him. **The wild Jigglypuff used Zap Cannon! Chimecho avoided the attack! **Tch! He fires his last Zapper at the boulder. Sparks fly out from the impact a second later, and he can just barely hear the whimper of the second, younger pokémon.

"_Tha__t was the last one!"_

The Windchime Pokémon surges out of cover, dashing through the space between her cover and–!

**The wild Jigglypuff used Zap Cannon...! Chimecho was Paralyzed! **

The shocked girl plummets to the ground, kicking up dirt as she bounces from the impact. Freeboot guffaws at the display, and arrogantly throws the remains of an item down for her to see.

Is that... a Leppa Berry?!

**The wild Jigglypuff ate its Leppa Berry! Jigglypuff restored Zap Cannon's PP using its Leppa Berry!**

"Chim... _Oh, no..._"

"JIGGLY! _Oh YES!_" he shouts, hopping down. "Jigglypuff? Puff. Puff puff jiggly. _You're down now, you hear me? I gave you a shot, man, I did. Hand over your items. If you resist, I'll punt you over to the hungry victreebel in the forest._"

"Chim... Chimecho? _You know... you know I can still levitate, right? You just hit me off guard, is all._" True to her word, Chimecho slowly lifts off the ground. While her speed is impaired and any real Moves may cause her to freeze up, basic movement is not a problem with Paralysis.

"Jiggly! _Please, you're a sitting duck!_" He waves a stubby arm at her, smirking evilly. "Jiggly? Jiggly? _Want me to hit you with that lightning again? Or hit you and let my cute charm do its thing?_"

"Chimecho...? _You... you have Cute Charm?_"

"Jiggly? Jiggly~? _Well, isn't it obvious? Don't my cute lil' face just radiate it~?_" Chimecho shudders as Freeboot struts around, flexing his stubby little limbs like some kind of bodybuilder. It's obvious this guy isn't from an advanced society. He must've heard the term 'cute charm' from eavesdropping on humans, but he must have no concept of Moves or Abilities for what they really are.

"Jiggly... _If you don't hand over your berries, I'm just gonna..._"

"CHIMECHO. _DON'T. TOUCH. ME."_

"Jiggly jiggly! Jiiiiiiiiiiiigglypu–phpp! _Geez, calm down! We're not even in the same Egg Group – I was just gonna threaten your buddies back ther-GACK!_"

Yamper smacks the _shit_ out of Freeboot out of nowhere. He must've been sneaking up and fired up a Quick Attack at the last second. Level difference or no, a lightweight balloon like jigglypuff is gonna be sent flying by an unexpected blow like that. Freeboot careens down the path, cursing and flailing his limbs wildly as he eventually rolls to a stop several dozen meters away. He gets up and glares - no, _stares bloody murder_ in the direction of his would-be-prey, but it seems Yamper has managed to drag his partner back behind cover. Chimecho's vibes settle down considerably once she gets a dose of Paralyze Heal, courtesy of Yamper; but chorus of Zap Cannon impacts disrupts their regrouping

"Yamp? _C-chimecho? How do we get past this guy?_"

She thinks to herself._ "Hm... he has Cute Charm, which means me attacking him directly is risky. And I can't show myself for too long or he might tag me with a Zap Cannon. I'm going to take it for granted that he knows Sing." _Damn. "Chimecho. _Yamper, I think we should focus on making sure Lucy is okay. Jiggly is probably going to be up there a while._" Flurries of sparks shower around the boulder, thrown around by more impacts – what the hell, are we up to 17 Zap Cannons fired?

A strategy is needed...

But first, a Super Potion for Lucy. ... Or at least some bandages.

...

**The wild Jigglypuff used Recycle! Jigglypuff recycled its Leppa Berry! ****The wild Jigglypuff ate its Leppa Berry! ****Jigglypuff restored Zap Cannon's PP using its Leppa Berry!**

Freeboot growls, watching the boulder intently. Tch, he didn't account for the _other_ major difference in this group – there's two of them! And the second one looked so weak, too... never again! He raises a stumpy and starts charging another Zap Cannon. All the better to suddenly fire next time they pop out. And it's not like he was to worry about _running out_ of PP...

Wait, is that the damn dog? Is it sitting on top of the boulder? "YAMPER! _Hey! Bully!_" The orb winks out of existence as Freeboot's mind tries to register what is happening here. Is that stupid dog... Wait. It's _yellow_ – it must be a lightning elemental! Er, Electric-type. Whatever. No wonder it's just standing there – Zap Cannon wouldn't do anything! In reality it would probably OHKO the poor dog, but Freeboot doesn't know that. "Yamper! _Leave us alone! O-or our buddy will beat you up!_"

"Jigglypuff? _What 'buddy'?_"

Instead of answering, Yamper howls. Not uses Howl, he howls, shrieking with everything his tiny little lungs can manage. Freeboot cringes, trying to cover its ears to no avail – its arms cannot reach the top of its head.

It doesn't even notice when a tired-looking humanoid touches down on the boulder, having heard the puppy's cry from quite a distance away. A saiyan's passive hearing is not much better than a humans, but when they concentrate, and I mean _really_ concentrate, they can pick out quite a bit from their surroundings.

Yamper seems a bit shocked by Gohan's condition. He's huffing and puffing, and there's some crackling around him... he must have been Paralyzed! Uh oh. Well, whatever. The Puppy Pokémon coughs and points his nose at the jigglypuff, who now realizes that the horrific sound has faded and seems a bit shocked by the new arrival. Where did he come from?

...

**Gohan is Paralyzed! He can't move! **

**The wild Jigglypuff used Sing! But it failed!**

**Gohan is Paralyzed! He can't move!**

**The wild Jigglypuff used Zap Cannon! Gohan is already Paralyzed!**

**Gohan used Mach Punch! Gohan's attack missed!**

Freeboot blinks as the wind buffets him; after his eyes refocus, he – wait, where did the new kid go?

There's heavy breathing next to him.

Uh oh.

**Gohan used Brutal Swing! It's not very effective... The wild Jigglypuff is blasting off!**

* * *

**Dark Matter: the Negative Entity**

**Class: Demon**

Ability: Blowback

Signature Move: Shadow Casting

Type: Unknown

Height: 10 m

Weight: 750 kg

_Dark Matter is a demon spoken in legends of distant regions, specifically the islands clustered around Mistia. It is said to have been born out of the negative feelings of all the pokémon in the world, and as soon as it came into existence it started rampaging. The legend says that it took an entire army of pokémon to defeat it, as for every pokémon it defeated it grew stronger. __Dark Matter supposedly has no Type, and this may very well be true due to its supernatural nature. However, with the recent reemergence of behemoths such as Groudon and Dialga, we may find the answer to any questions about it soon enough._


End file.
